Poets say poetry blossoming on Internet

LONDON, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Poetry is once again gaining popularity thanks to the Internet, where amateur poets worldwide can publish their works, two respected U.K. poets say.

Scottish poet Richard Price and English poet Andrew Motion agree the Internet has brought about renewed interest in the world of poetry through its ability to connect people around the world, The Daily Telegraph reported Saturday.

"What's interesting is it's counter-intuitive," said Price, head of the British Library's modern collections. "You would have thought that poetry and pamphlets would be failing in the face of the Internet, but that isn't happening."

"At a basic level the net helps to build e-mail lists, but more importantly you can build all kinds of social networks."

Motion, a poet laureate, told the Telegraph being able to listen to poetry online has been integral to its upsurge in popularity.

"Poetry is as much to do with the noise the poem makes as about what the words mean when written on a page," Motion said.

"It is crucially an oral form -- it's character depends on it."