IS POETRY LEFT

ON THE SHELF?

British poet Ben Barton has recently worked with the BBC on their Video Nation programme. The short film entitled NO ONE READS POETRY examines the life of a working poet - juggling a busy day job with creative work. Ben shows his frustration at the lack of enthusiasm for modern poetry - and wonders why the market is so narrow.

He says. "Of course, I understand that people do indeed read poetry, what I was trying to get across in the film is that no enough people read or enjoy poetry anymore... More people out there read cookbooks, jokebooks, books on origami, books on how to straighten your hair - anything other than modern poetry. I just want people to open their minds, to be more creative, to not leave poetry on the shelf..."

Originally published by POETTEXT.com