An Old Item Returned: Billy Collins CD, 1998 Reading at the Wexner Center, Columbus, OH


A package arrived in the mail this weekend, from my friend Melissa. On opening it up, I was surprised to find a super old audio CD (remember those, kids?) of a reading that Billy Collins gave at the Wexner Center in Columbus, OH – back when I was a grad student, and he was a visiting professor for a week.

Funny thing is – she had mentioned finding this CD, which I loaned her ages and ages ago. And I had forgotten about the conversation. So between the two of us, we’ve forgotten about this CD a great deal.

I honestly don’t even know when I sent this out to her – maybe 8 years ago? More?

Funny how things like CD’s cease to have as much meaning as they used to, though this one item does evoke a great deal of nostalgia for me. I had some great years when I was studying in Columbus, and look back on those times with great fondness.

I’m a big fan of Collins and his poetry too, which I’m guessing you know. If not, do a quick search on this site and you’ll find a lot of examples. Or better yet, download the audio from this reading and see for yourself.

I’ve uploaded the reading and the files from this CD are saved as MP3 files. You at least remember what those are, right?

Related:
Billy Collins Reading (2005)
Goodbye, Columbus

This Post Has 1 Comment

  1. I’m sorry it took so long! I feel like I remember you sending this CD to me while I was still living in Redmond, so probably ten years ago. It’s so good that the CD didn’t degrade during that time, given that the general wisdom is that burned CDs only last around 5 years.

    Mellzah Reply


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