George the Poet, whose real name is George Mpanga, has said that social media platforms such as YouTube have helped poetry thrive by giving everyone a fair chance to share their work. The acclaimed performer, known for singles like Follow the Leader with Maverick Sabre, made the comments on World Poetry Day, which is celebrated each 21 March.
According to UK book sales monitor Nielsen BookScan, sales of poetry books hit an all-time high of £12 million in 2018, with younger readers making up two-thirds of buyers. George the Poet, who opened the BBC's coverage of the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and has his own podcast, believes social media has helped artists share their thoughts on an unprecedented scale.
He told the BBC: 'My career was propelled by putting my work on YouTube, and millions more can make use of the same opportunity. Poetry is more relevant than ever. We live in times of change - right now more than ever - and poetry provides a way of tracking these changes in the journal of humanity.'
Many poets are taking advantage of social media opportunities. Taz Alam, whose YouTube channel ClickForTaz has more than 774,000 subscribers, began creating spoken word poetry in 2015. She said she never intended to become a poet but fell in love with spoken word after a friend introduced her to it. Alam believes social media makes poetry more accessible and opens people up to work from diverse backgrounds.
However, Andy Brown, poet and Professor of Creative Writing & English at Exeter University, said social media has had little impact on mainstream publishing. He noted: 'It has changed the game for some poets: the Instagram Poets, for example, whose short, aphoristic pieces reach large audiences. It has also changed the way poets interact and network with each other, broadly 'democratising' the dissemination of poetry. On the other hand, it has had virtually no impact at all on mainstream publishing house poets whose careers still run through the traditional publishing media and festival and event readings.'
