BRITAIN is enjoying a “poetry renaissance” according to the Observer, which recently declared that thanks to the new “superstars” of the poetry-performance circuit, the “Cinderella of literary forms is back in what readers and poets are now feeling confident enough to call a genuine renaissance.”

For poet Alan Morrison, such claims are just wishful thinking, usually made to promote the latest “award-winning poet” on some corporate publisher’s list: “There’s a mushrooming of prose poetry — ‘prosetry’ — at the moment,” he says. But it’s a moot point as to whether it’s actual poetry or a different medium altogether.

“When this sort of thing is announced in newspapers it’s normally to do with spoken word as opposed to poetry for the page. The media seem to be permanently preoccupied with performance poetry because it’s more in your face and takes less effort to access.”