When I became poet laureate, I was in a slightly uncomfortable position because I think a lot of poetry isn't worth reading. Download Download Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Rotate quotes laureate lot poet
Poems, for me, begin as a social engagement. I want to establish a kind of sociability or even hospitality at the beginning of a poem. The title and the first few lines are a kind of welcome mat where I am inviting the reader inside. Billy Collins beginengagementestablish share on social
I learned snails don't have ears. They live in silence. They go slowly. Slowly, slowly in silence. Billy Collins earlearnlive Change image and share on social
I am increasingly attracted to restricting possibility in the poem by inflicting a form upon yourself. Once you impose some formal pattern on yourself, then the poem is pushing back. I think good poems are often the result of that kind of wrestling with the form. Billy Collins attractbackform share on social
I know some people might think it odd - unworthy even - for me to have written a cookbook, but I make no apologies. The U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins thought I had demeaned myself by writing poetry for Hallmark Cards, but I am the people's poet so I write for the people. Maya Angelou apologybillycard share on social
Working with franchises can be challenging, but at the same time I really did enjoy working on 'Star Wars,' for example, and I have done a lot of 'Dungeons & Dragons' games, but I still enjoy it very much. Chris Avellone challengedragondungeon share on social
For poets today or in any age, the choice is not between freedom on the one hand and abstruse French forms on the other. The choice is between the nullity and vanity of our first efforts, and the developing of a sense of idiom, form, structure, metre, rhythm, line - all the fundamental characteristics of this verbal art. James Fenton abstruseageart share on social