Two Time United States Poet Laureate Presents at McDaniel College

It's likely that Billy Collins will be reading to a packed house when he visits McDaniel College this week. 

Currently a distinguished English professor at Lehman College in the Bronx, Collins has received an array of lifetime achievement awards in poetry including, but not limited to, Poetry Magazine’s Poet of the Year, two U.S. Poet Laureate honors, and the Mark Twain Award for Humor in Poetry. 

McDaniel College President Roger Casey and Collins met years ago at Rollins College in Winter Park, FL, and have remained friends since.

When asked if he knew a poet to read at the annual Bothe Memorial Lecture, Casey said,  “I instantly thought of Billy, (I) knew he would be the perfect person to help the College celebrate the 25th anniversary lecture."

“There is a fascinating spark to Billy—he is a phenomenal reader,” said Casey. “He has a fabulous deadpan droll with a unique sense of humor.”

Dr. Kathy Mangan, professor of English and published poet who teaches creative writing at McDaniel, has been involved with the planning of the Collins visit.

“Collins is the contemporary master of poetic musings on the quotidian; his deftly ironic poems offer keen observational — and philosophical — commentary on daily and domestic human interaction,” Mangan said via the McDaniel website.

Mangan attributes her excitement not only to her personal love for Collins’ work but also the thrill for poetry his reading will bring to the College and members of the community who attend the event.

Casey and Mangan said they have no doubt that  Collins will connect with audience members.

“Collins’ accessibility as a poet will make skeptics folds,” Mangan told Patch. “He is an enormously engaging reader and a proven entertainer.”

In a biography on poetryfoundation.org, well-known author John Updike praised Collins for writing “lovely poems...Limpid, gently and consistently startling, more serious than they seem, they describe all the worlds that are and were and some others besides.”

But according to the biography, Collins has offered a slightly different take on his appeal, admitting that his poetry is “suburban, it’s domestic, it’s middle class, and it’s sort of unashamedly that.” 

The lecture will take place May 4 at 7:30 p.m. at Alumni Hall on the McDaniel College campus. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 410-857-2290.