New To Poetry

We believe that poetry is for everyone — sometimes it’s just about finding the right poem or the right poet to connect with. But where do you start?

Watch poet Andrew McMillan’s four quick tips for enjoying poetry below or read his article on The Conversation.

Andrew’s tips

You don’t have to like it.

If you don’t like a poem, put it back on the shelf. Pick another one up, find something else. There are as many poets as there are people. There are as many poems as there are tastes. So don’t worry if you don’t get something straight away.

Read it out loud to yourself.

Walk it around the house, you’ll feel the rhythm inside yourself and then you’ll understand the poem much more.

Don’t try and solve it.

Poems aren’t a problem to be solved. Poems aren’t riddle or a puzzle, they exist simply as they are. To enjoy, to think about to get a glimpse of something outside yourself.

Write it yourself.

The best way to understand what a poet is trying to do, is to write your own. So have a go.