The Evolving World of Poetry

It’s an interesting time to be in the world of poetry, as it evolves before our eyes. The current demographic for poetry is 18-35 year-olds, which could be narrowed a bit to 18-24 year-olds providing a resurgence of interest in this art form.

Last year, PBS News Hour published an article about How young writers are leading a poetry comeback, based on a study by the National Endowment for the Arts’ Office of Research & Analysis and the U.S. Census Bureau from 2017, which indicated that reading of poetry had increased from 6.7% in 2012 to 11.7% of the U.S. adult population. That’s 27.9 million adults reading poetry.

Along with this renewed interest in poetry, there’s been a shift in how poetry is consumed and new types of visual elements have been added to poetry. Social media has influenced poetry, resulting in poetry being joined with a graphic element and the length of poems being shortened. This shift has been met with mixed opinions. Obviously, it has captivated a younger generation and is quickly and easily consumable. The visual aspect of the poem’s presentation, which may or may not be a creation of the poet whose poem appears next to the picture, is just as important as the words themselves. In fact, it is usually the photo that draws the attention of a reader. In this way, it is an exciting new element to the poetry experience.

On the other hand, I’ve also heard poets who have studied the craft and written poems for years express concern about Twitter poets, Poets of Instagram, and the like. I suspect the main reason is that this new form of poetry relies heavily on the visual and art aspect of poetry while neglecting the craft (but is that only because this is a newer form?).

And while it could be argued that this shift in poetry aesthetics is giving a platform to what might be considered novice writing (which is not to say this is true), I find great value in young writers finding their voices and a platform that can celebrate and encourage their efforts. And through the simple act of writing regularly, they are rapidly improving their skills. While the study of the craft of any form of writing is important to writers, poets have to start somewhere and I don’t believe there’s a decrease in the value of this new form of poetry.

And I can’t help but think about Walt Whitman who, when he published “Leaves of Grass,” was not well-received by critics of the time. During a time when rhyming poetry was still the standard, he wrote in free verse. And yet today, while there are people who may not have read his work, they are still familiar with his name because his work is still discussed and honored.

And while this post sounds formal and matter of fact, it’s merely ideas that I’ve been considering — How does the older world of poetry and the newer world of poetry fit in together? Because I don’t believe it’s an either/or situation.

I understand the idea of learning about the rules of something to the point where you become inflexible. I feel that way about words. I find the way definitions of words evolve irritating. But I’m beginning to understand the beauty of words adapting to the world around us as opposed to our world adapting to the stringent guidelines of words that no longer accurately depict our reality.

I’m still at the beginning of my poetry journey though, so it feels more natural to me to flow with this change and I probably have a different attitude about it later when I feel more confident about the craft and I find the rules comforting. I’ll probably have to remind myself at that point too that the changing of the art form is what will keep it alive. And the change doesn’t detract from the works that came before or for those who still want to write in the older forms. Free verse didn’t eradicate all other forms of poetry, it merely carved out a space within the world of poetry. And I think the same is true for this new type of poetry, and if it’s increasing interest in poetry along the way, all the better for all poets.

I think spoken word had to carve out a space in a similar manner, as it combined poetry with performance. And spoken word is what pulled me into the world of poetry to begin with, not because I wanted to be a spoken word performer but because that is the type of poetry that took me on a journey and tugged my emotions.

Do you have a favorite form of poetry? How do you feel about the visual element added to poetry (which isn’t entirely new, it’s just a different form)?