On this episode, we speak with national best seller and former United States Poet Laureate Billy Collins about his collection of 135 very short poems, Musical Tables, published by Random House.
Collins writes in the poem "Musical Tables":
No one knew what to do
when the music stopped,
plus, the big tables were always in the way.
But soon it became a new game
in spite of its pointlessness,
or was that the reason for its popular appeal?
But these short poems are not haiku or limerick, instead the short free verse lines push a poem to a minimalist essence, where every word is crucial to the poem's meaning.
Collins states, “Whenever I pick up a new book of poems, I flip through the pages looking for small ones. Just as I might have trust in an abstract painter more if I knew he or she could draw a credible chicken, I have faith in poets who can go short.”
Billy Collins is the author of twelve previous collections of poetry including The Rain in Portugal, Aimless Love, Horoscopes for the Dead, Ballistics, The Trouble with Poetry, Nine Horses, Sailing Alone Around the Room, Questions About Angels, The Art of Drowning, and Picnic, Lightning. He is also the editor of Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry, 180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Every Day, and Bright Wings: An Illustrated Anthology of Poems About Birds.
A former Distinguished Professor at Lehman College of the City University of New York, Collins served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003 and as New York State Poet from 2004 to 2006. In 2016 he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives in Florida with his wife Suzannah.
Collins' fourteenth poetry book, Water Water, will be released in November of 2024 by Random House.
Special thanks to Emmy Award-winning musician and producer, Silas Hite, who produced the episode and provided all of the music.
As a freelance composer, Hite's music appears in a wide variety of films and television shows from around the world, including programming for Pixar, Disney, the BBC, Netflix, and HBO.
He has scored hundreds of commercials for clients such as Apple, McDonalds, and Chevy and has contributed memorable music to top selling video games including The Sims 2, Skate 3, and The Simpsons.
In the podcast space Hite has had roles as varied as producer, story editor, sound designer, and composer.
With much appreciation to Marni Folkman from Random House for coordinating the interview.
Generous funding for Arts & Letters Radio is provided by Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and from listeners like you.
A very special thanks to the Walmart Community Giving 'Spark Good Change' program and store 5706 on Bowman Road in Little Rock, who provided additional support for this episode.
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Executive Producer and Host: J. Bradley Minnick
Senior Producer: Mary Ellen Kubit
Episode Producer, Story Editor, Sound Designer, Mix and Mastering: Silas Hite
Billy Collins Recorded by: Juan Gualda of WMFE in Orlando
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