Growing up in a traditional Jewish home and attending Columbia University, Kula cites the diversity of New York City in terms of people, ideas, food, and music, as an experience that automatically broke down boundaries because of the constant interac
Billy Collins: I suppose . . . Well, there's a difference . . . I should point out there's a difference between the "me" that was autobiographically shaped and the persona that says my poems.
New York has had no influence on my persona. Well it's influenced me, I suppose, that I grew up in a fairly cosmopolitan, crazy environment. So I guess I'm not too easily impressed by eccentricity for one thing; since if you walk down one block in Manhattan, you see . . . you know, it's like going to the opera.
Billy Collins: I suppose . . . Well, there's a difference . . . I should point out there's a difference between the "me" that was autobiographically shaped and the persona that says my poems.
New York has had no influence on my persona. Well it's influenced me, I suppose, that I grew up in a fairly cosmopolitan, crazy environment. So I guess I'm not too easily impressed by eccentricity for one thing; since if you walk down one block in Manhattan, you see . . . you know, it's like going to the opera.
