Interview - Billy Collins (2014)

He’s twice been poet laureate in the US and says he hopes his poems ‘begin in Kansas and end in Oz’. Now Billy Collins returns with Aimless Love, his first collection of new and selected poems for 12 years. Elegant, poignant and thrillingly accessible, Collins’ book includes more than 50 new poems and selections from 4 favourite collections. They are deeply inspiring – and Collins performs them with great élan. We caught up with him just before he went on stage at 2014 Edinburgh International Book Festival for a quick interview.

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