Billy Collins was born in New York City in 1941. He is the author of several books of poetry, including BALLISTICS (2008), THE TROUBLE WITH POETRY (2005); PICNIC, LIGHTNING (1998); THE ART OF DROWNING (1995), which was a finalist for the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize; QUESTIONS ABOUT ANGELS (1991), which was selected by Edward Hirsch for the National Poetry Series; THE APPLE THAT ASTONISHED PARIS (1988); and POKERFACE (1977). Collins's poetry has appeared in anthologies, textbooks, and a variety of periodicals, including Poetry, American Poetry Review, American Scholar, Harper's, Paris Review, and The New Yorker.

His work has been featured in the Pushcart Prize anthology and has been chosen several times for the annual Best American Poetry series. Collins has edited POETRY 180: A TURNING BACK TO POETRY (Random House, 2003), an anthology of contemporary poems for use in schools. In 2001, Collins was named U.S. Poet Laureate. His other honors and awards include fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Guggenheim Foundation. He has taught at Columbia, Sarah Lawrence, and Lehman College, CUNY. He lives in Somers, New York.

Former US Poet Laureate Billy Collins was the keynote poetry presenter for O, Miami 2012, with his appearance funded by a community consortium led by the Knight Foundation. The Betsy Hotel provided accommodations and hosted a dinner in his honor, attended by dignitaries, who also toasted to the opening of The Writer's Room.