Musical Tables

'America's favourite poet' * Wall Street Journal *
‘Billy Collins’ medium is a rare amalgam of accessibility and intelligence. I’d follow this man’s mind anywhere. Expect to be surprised’ -- Michael Donaghy
Billy Collins 'puts the "fun" back in profundity' -- Alice Fulton
'Chatty, witty, wholly dependable' * Guardian *
'Collins remains the most companionable of poetic companions' * The New York Times *
'The treat of treats. Unlike the wedding guest waylaid by Coleridge's Ancient Mariner, the reader emerges from encounters with Collins as a wiser and far happier person.' * New Statesman *
'A writer . . . fully aware of his work’s power to delight' * The New York Times *
‘A poet of plenitude, irony, and Augustangrace’ * New Yorker *
‘Billy Collins is one of my favourite poets in the world’ -- Carol Ann Duffy
‘Delightfully direct, he won’t lose you in his lyricism but will transport you to a better place’ * The Times *
‘The most popular poet in America’ * The New York Times *
‘Billy Collins writes lovely poems . . . Limpid, gently and consistently startling, more serious than they seem, they describe all the worlds that are and were and some others besides’ -- John Updike
‘Smart, his strings tuned and resonant, his wonderful eye looping over the things, events and ideas of the world, rueful, playful, warm voiced, easy to love’ -- E. Annie Prolux
'Imaginative thinking gives this collection its richness.... The work also shows a variety of styles...[that] provide both pleasure and a vivid example of how one's thoughts, when unrestrained, can lead to unexpected destinations' * The Washington Post *
‘Funny but serious, accessible but rich in meaning, consistently surprising – the world looks slightly different after reading a Billy Collins poem. He’s a one-off, an American treasure’ -- Nick Laird