“From the former United States Poet Laureate and New York Times bestselling author of Aimless Love, a wondrous new collection of poems focused on the joy and mystery of daily life.
In these sixty new poems, Billy Collins mixes the straightforward and the elusive to write about the beauties and ironies of everyday experience. A poem is best, he feels, when it begins in clarity and ends with a whiff of mystery. In Water, Water we learn how vigilance and a respect for the peripheral can result in moments of interest and delight. A cat leans to drink from a swimming pool; a nurse calls a name in a waiting room; an astronaut recites Emily Dickinson from outer space—such common and uncommon events are captured here with equal fascination. In a voice both conversational and melodic, hospitable and lyrical, informal but steadied by form, this poet asks us to tap the brakes and slow down so as to glimpse the elevated in the ordinary, the odd in the familiar. It’s no surprise that The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal both call Collins one of America’s favorite poets.
Billy Collins is the author of twelve 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..“
More info: https://pittsburghlectures.org/lectures/billy-collins/
Dec. 5, 2024, 5:00-6:00 p.m. ET In-person and Online Rediscover the beloved Christmas story this year through the words of Read more
"Emily Wilson, celebrated translator of The Iliad (2023) and The Odyssey (2018), will be visiting Pittsburgh to recite a selection of her work Read more
"More than 130 years after it occurred, the Homestead Strike of 1892 retains its capacity to shock. It was a Read more
"With more than 900 unique flights of stairs throughout the city’s 90 neighborhoods, the city steps reflect the history and Read more
"An interactive introduction to the importance of racial representation in children’s literature. Participants will learn to identify books that can Read more
"Please join us Saturday, Nov. 16th 6-8pm for a reading with Joan E. Bauer, Doralee Brooks, Fred Shaw and Michael Read more
"Riverstone Books and Mystery Lovers Bookshop are excited to bring you author Sharon Short for her next historical mystery! We Read more
"How's this for the perfect start to a new year: we'll once again host one of our faves, local romcom Read more
More info: https://www.pittsburghbookfestival.org/
LIVE ON ZOOM | November 20 @ 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm EST Learn to refine setting in fiction or nonfiction using observation and Read more
"Children's author Kelly Conroy will join us in a celebration of the release of her new book! Come out for Read more
"Welcome one and all! Bring your readings and your talents with you to the library! It’s an inclusionary space of Read more
"Men and women risked (and sometimes lost) their lives in the 1920s to entertain crowds and push boundaries at a Read more
"Joseph O’Neill, acclaimed author of Netherland (a New York Times Book Review Best Book of the year) comes to City Read more
"What happens when we tell stories? What do we discover about ourselves—and each other—when we share? With these questions in Read more
"What happens when we tell stories? What do we discover about ourselves—and each other—when we share? With these questions in Read more
"We are delighted to host local author Jennifer Celeste Briggs for an evening at the store to celebrate the release Read more
"We are thrilled to welcome Steve Hoffman to Pittsburgh to celebrate his memoir, A Season for That: Lost and Found Read more
"Do you love all things literature, genre, or just the musical sound of syllables in your mouth? Do you love Read more
