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Award-winning
poet Billy Collins has been chosen as
the 2011 Selected Author for Bexley
Community Book Club (BCBC), an initiative
of the Bexley Education Foundation (BEF).
Collins,
a former U.S. Poet Laureate who is a driving
force behind making contemporary poems relevant
to students, will appear in Bexley on April
20, 2011 where he will spend the day with
students, dine with patrons and present a public
lecture and readings of some of his works. A
number of exciting events in the months leading
up to Collinss arrival are also in the
works; those will be announced in August.
No
poet since Robert Frost has managed to combine
high critical acclaim with such broad popular
appeal as Billy Collins. His work has appeared
in publications such as The New Yorker, The
Paris Review and The American Scholar.Collins
sees his poetry as a form of travel writing
and considers humor a door into the serious.
It is a door that many thousands of readers
have opened. His readings are usually standing
room only, and his audiencebuoyed by frequent
appearances on National Public Radioincludes
people of all backgrounds and ages. His last
three collections of poems have broken sales
records for poetry.
The
Bexley Community Book Club, now in its fourth
year, is a unique community-based vehicle for
promoting lifelong learning and reading for
both students and adults in Bexley and beyond.
Past BCBC selected authors include Ann
Patchett (2010), Tobias
Wolff (2009) and Pete
Hamill (2008).
Proceeds
from Bexley Community Book Club, derived from
sponsorships, ticket sales and book sales, will
go to the Bexley Education Foundation to support
projects and programs in the Bexley City School
District.
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