Celebrating the Pleasures of Literature

Billy Collins

Shortly after being appointed U.S. Poet Laureate and University Distinguished Professor, Billy Collins, seen at right, read some of his poems at a meeting of the CUNY Board of Trustees. One poem in particular amused the audience, “Forgetfulness,” a wry description of how the memory on one’s hard drive gets smaller and smaller with age. Characteristic of Collins’ self-deprecating wit is the first line: “The name of the author is the first to go.”

The poem is among those in a special CUNY edition of Collins’ latest volume, Sailing Alone Around the Room, which will play a significant role in an up-coming all-campus initiative “CUNY is Reading.” Chancellor Matthew Goldstein and Executive Vice Chancellor Louise Mirrer, in their prefatory letter to the special edition, recall the pleasure “Forgetfulness” gave: “the brilliance of the poem was a vivid reminder of why . . . no one would dream of forgetting the name of the author who has been such a cause for celebration at the City University.” For more on “CUNY is Reading” and Billy Collins, see the Chancellor’s column on the next section.