Billy Collins
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Billy Collins: An Inventory of His Papers at the Harry Ransom Center Descriptive Summary Creator: Collins, Billy Title: Billy Collins Papers Dates: 1935-2013 (bulk 1962-2013) Extent: 96 document boxes, 2 oversize boxes (osb) (41.24 linear feet), 15 oversize folders (osf), 4 computer disks, 1 laptop computer Abstract: The papers of American poet Billy Collins date from 1935 to 2013 (bulk 1962-2013) and include notebooks, drafts (including electronic files), proofs, clippings, tearsheets, reviews, royalty statements, and agreements relating to his poetry, essays, books, and other published works; drafts (including electronic files), programs, and schedules for commencement addresses, readings, and other public appearances; photographs (including electronic files); travel diaries; datebooks; sketchbooks and drawings; professional and personal correspondence; fan mail; press and publicity material; childhood papers; college course notes, essays, and dissertation; and lecture notes, syllabi, exams, and assignments from his teaching career. Call Number: Manuscript Collection MS-5388 Language: English, Arabic, Estonian, German, Italian, Spanish, and Swedish Access: Open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using archival materials. Two notebooks restricted due to condition and some correspondence restricted during Collins' lifetime. Access: Open for research. Two notebooks restricted due to condition and some correspondence restricted during Collins' lifetime. Researchers must create an online Research Account and agree to the Materials Use Policy before using archival materials. To request access to electronic files, please email Reference. Use Policies: Ransom Center collections may contain material with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in the collections without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be Collins, Billy Manuscript Collection MS-5388 deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the Ransom Center and The University of Texas at Austin assume no responsibility. Restrictions on Certain restrictions apply to the use of electronic files. Researchers Use: must agree to the Materials Use Policy for Electronic Files before accessing them. Original computer disks and forensic disk images are restricted. Copying electronic files, including screenshots and printouts, is not permitted. Authorization for publication is given on behalf of the University of Texas as the owner of the collection and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder which must be obtained by the researcher. For more information please see the Ransom Centers' Open Access and Use Policies. Administrative Information Acquisition: Purchase, 2013-2014 (13-12-008-P, 14-01-008-P) Processed by: Katherine Mosley, 2016 Repository: Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin 2 Collins, Billy Manuscript Collection MS-5388 Biographical Sketch American poet and academic William James Collins was born March 22, 1941, in New York, New York. The only child of Katharine "Kay" MacIsaac (1901-1997) and William Stephen Collins (1901-1994), Collins grew up in Queens and White Plains, New York. He received a B.A. in English from College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1963, followed by an M.A. (1965) and Ph.D. (1971) from the University of California, Riverside. Collins began his teaching career by working as an instructor at San Bernardino Valley College (1963-1964) and as a teaching assistant at the University of California, Riverside (1964-1967) while earning his degrees. His longtime association with the Herbert H. Lehman College began when he was hired as a lecturer at the time that the college was established as an independent City University of New York campus in the Bronx in 1968. The following year he was made professor; Collins has continued to teach at the college since that time and currently holds the title Distinguished Professor of English. In addition, he has taught at Stony Brook Southampton and Sarah Lawrence College and is Senior Distinguished Fellow of the Winter Park Institute at Rollins College. In 1975, Collins co-founded and edited the small literary magazine The Midatlantic Review. His early poems were published in that publication, as well as in Rolling Stone, Echo, Voice, and other periodicals. Collins published two chapbooks, Pokerface (1977) and Video Poems (1980), before the University of Arkansas Press published his first full-length collection of poetry, The Apple That Astonished Paris, in 1988. His second collection, Questions about Angels (1991), was published as a result of winning the 1990 National Poetry Series Open Competition and received critical and popular acclaim. The University of Pittsburgh then published The Art of Drowning (1995) and Picnic, Lightning (1998). Meanwhile, Collins' poems continued to appear in Poetry, The Paris Review, and other notable periodicals and anthologies. In 1998, Garrison Keillor invited Collins to appear on his National Public Radio program Prairie Home Companion, which, along with an interview on Fresh Air, substantially increased Collins' readership. Random House published his next collection, Sailing Alone around the Room: New and Selected Poems (2001), as well as his subsequent books of poetry, most recently The Rain in Portugal (2016). Collins also published a collection of haiku, She Was Just Seventeen (2006), through Modern Haiku Press. Collins was appointed to two terms as Poet Laureate of the United States (2001-2003) and served as the New York State Poet (2004-2006). Among his many other honors, Collins was chosen to be a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library in 1992 and was inducted into the Academy of Arts and Letters in 2016. He directed the Katonah Poetry Series from 1991 to 2008 and in 2012 became a poetry consultant for Smithsonian Magazine. Collins used his position as Poet Laureate to develop the Poetry 180 project as a way to expose high school students to poetry. A popular speaker, Collins has maintained a full schedule of poetry readings, workshops, and commencement addresses. Collins married architect Diane Lynn Olbright on January 21, 1978. For most of their 3 Collins, Billy Manuscript Collection MS-5388 Collins married architect Diane Lynn Olbright on January 21, 1978. For most of their married life he lived in Somers, New York, but following their separation in 2006, Collins moved to Florida, where he became engaged to lawyer and poet Suzannah Gilman in 2013. Sources: In addition to material found within the Billy Collins Papers, the following sources were used: "Billy Collins". Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 2016. Accessed 14 November 2016, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Billy-Collins. "Billy Collins". Poetry Foundation website, accessed 22 April 2016, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/billy-collins. Scope and Contents The papers of American poet Billy Collins include notebooks, drafts, proofs, clippings, tearsheets, reviews, royalty statements, and agreements relating to his poetry, essays, books, and other published works; drafts, programs, and schedules for commencement addresses, readings, and other public appearances; photographs; travel diaries; datebooks; sketchbooks and drawings; professional and personal correspondence; fan mail; press and publicity material; childhood papers; college course notes, essays, and dissertation; and lecture notes, syllabi, exams, and assignments from his teaching career.The materials date from 1935 to 2013 (bulk 1962-2013) and are organized in four series: I. Works by Collins (1962-2013, 28 boxes); II. Correspondence (1962-2013, 25 boxes); III. Personal and Career-Related Material (1935-2013, 39 boxes); and IV. Works by Others (1965-2013, 3 boxes). Any labels found on file folders have been transcribed and in most cases are indicated by single quotation marks in the container list. Descriptions of electronic files of manuscript drafts and digital images from Collins’ Apple G3 laptop computer (1312008P_001) and four computer disks (1312008P_002 through 1312008P_005) are included in the container list. Series I. Works by Collins contains materials relating to his poetry, books, talks, essays, and reviews and is divided into six subseries: A. Poetry, 1962-2013; Subseries B. Notebooks and Sketchbooks, 1964-2013; Subseries C. Commencement Addresses, Lectures, and Other Talks, 1993-2013; Subseries D. Contributions to Books and Other Publications, 1991-2013; Subseries E. Editing, 1975-2010; and Subseries F. Reviews by Collins, 1978-2006. The subseries are arranged alphabetically, with the exception of notebooks and sketchbooks, which are in chronological order. Subseries A. Poetry consists of drafts, proofs, and printed texts of individual poems, 4 Collins, Billy Manuscript Collection MS-5388 Subseries A. Poetry consists of drafts, proofs, and printed texts of individual poems, followed by manuscripts, publication material, and promotional material for Collins' published collections. Of particular note are typescript drafts of one of his best-known poems, "The Names", including Collins'