Billy Collins

When Emily Dickinson died in the 1880s, she was a reclusive, barely published writer. Today, she is a fully canonized, iconic poet. Former U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins says the progress of her status was unprecedented.

The former U.S. poet laureate explains his admiration for Emily Dickinson -- and shares some of his favorite Dickinson poems. Collins says her words have a "sheer, untouchable originality."

In the first part of a two-part interview, former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins guides us through the new spoken-word four-CD box set Poetry on Record: 98 Poets Read Their Work, 1888-2006.