Arda Collins

Arda Collins is a Lecturer in English Language & Literature at Smith College. She is an accomplished poet and educator, known for her collection It Is Daylight (2009), which won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Prize, and her forthcoming work from The Song Cave (2022). Her poems have appeared in prestigious venues such as The New Yorker, A Public Space, and The American Poetry Review.

• Ph.D. in Creative Writing and Literature from the University of Denver
• M.F.A. in Poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop

Collins teaches courses including the Intermediate Poetry Workshop and Introduction to Creative Writing. She previously served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and taught in the Creative Writing Program at NYU. Her work extends beyond academia, including roles as an associate producer for PBS documentary series Frontline and American Experience.

She is a recipient of the Sarton Award in Poetry and has taught as the Grace Hazard Conkling Writer-in-Residence. Office hours are held at Pierce Hall 107, with appointments available outside scheduled times.