How the Internet is Saving Poetry

Just when you thought poetry was dead, Newser today cites a Telegraph story showing that email and social networking is catalyzing a resurgence in that oldest of literary art forms. But will teenagers really tweet haikus after a few hours of Grand Theft Auto IV?

Newser summarizes:

Poetry is not going gently into that good night, having been energized by the very tool predicted to kill it: the Internet, reports the Telegraph. Email, social networking sites, and online media players are helping poets win over new audiences.

“It’s counter-intuitive,” marveled poet Richard Price. Poetry reading groups and live readings are multiplying now that aficionados are organizing online. “These reading series often have Facebook groups” which help build solidarity, Price explained.

British Poet Laureate Andrew Motion argued that online readings have returned the ancient art form to its oratorical roots. “The last 1,000 years is not exactly an aberration, but a long loop,” he said, concluding that poetry’s problem wasn’t “one of appetite, but of delivery.”