Billy Collins served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003 and as New York State Poet from 2004 to 2006. Born in New York City, he is a distinguished professor of English at Lehman College of the City University of New York. His collections include The Apple That Astonished Paris (University of Arkansas Press, 1988), Sailing Alone Around the Room (Random House, 2001), and Aimless Love (Random House, 2013). He received the Poetry Foundation's inaugural Mark Twain Award in 2004 and the Lavan Younger Poets Award from the Academy of American Poets.
