Poetry readers differ from the wider potential audience in more than age or education. The Poetry in America summary report describes a strongly engaged audience: 62.0% are female, 53.6% have written poetry as adults, and 36.5% have used the internet to find, read, or listen to poetry. These figures are historical survey results, and the report’s comparisons should not be treated as newly independently verified estimates.
Contents
- Who is in the poetry audience?
- Education, work, family, and income
- How poetry fits into leisure and creative life
- Early experiences and poetry education
- Libraries, the internet, buying, and sharing
- Where people encounter poetry
- Benefits, barriers, and ideas about poets
Who is in the poetry audience?
The Poetry in America summary report compares the poetry audience with a “potential audience.” The supplied figures do not define that comparison group in more detail, so the percentages below are best read as report-level audience comparisons rather than a current population estimate.
Women make up 62.0% of the poetry audience, compared with 57.2% of the potential audience. Men make up 38.0%, compared with 42.8%. The race comparison also shows a different profile: 12.2% of the poetry audience is African American, compared with 6.3% of the potential audience, while 72.1% is White non-Hispanic, compared with 78.7%. The audience figures include 4.5% who are multiracial, compared with 4.2%, and 8.1% in another race category, compared with 8.8%.
Age is one of the clearest distinctions in the report. The poetry audience includes 12.2% ages 18–24, compared with 3.5% of the potential audience, and 15.1% ages 25–34, compared with 10.9%. The 35–44 groups are close at 19.7% and 20.1%, respectively. Ages 45–54 account for 23.2% of the poetry audience, compared with 20.7% of the potential audience.
Older groups are less represented among the poetry audience than in the comparison group. Ages 55–64 account for 13.3%, compared with 20.5%; ages 65–74 account for 9.1%, compared with 16.6%; and those 75 or older account for 7.6%, compared with 7.7%. In this report, poetry participation is therefore especially elevated among adults ages 18–34 and lower among adults ages 55–74.
| Demographic group | Poetry audience | Potential audience |
|---|---|---|
| Female | 62.0% | 57.2% |
| African American | 12.2% | 6.3% |
| Ages 18–24 | 12.2% | 3.5% |
| Ages 25–34 | 15.1% | 10.9% |
| Ages 55–64 | 13.3% | 20.5% |
| Ages 65–74 | 9.1% | 16.6% |
Education, work, family, and income
Education levels show another substantial difference. Only 3.1% of the poetry audience has less than a high school education, compared with 3.4% of the potential audience. A high school diploma or GED describes 21.8% of the poetry audience, compared with 31.0%. Meanwhile, 30.8% has some college but no degree, compared with 29.0%; 23.4% has a bachelor’s degree, compared with 24.2%; and 20.8% has a master’s degree or higher, compared with 12.3%.
The largest higher-education contrast is at the graduate level: the poetry audience share with a master’s degree or higher is 8.5 percentage points above the potential-audience figure in the report. The audience also has a smaller high-school-only share, suggesting that poetry engagement is associated in these figures with more education beyond high school. That is an observed audience pattern, not evidence that education causes poetry reading.
Employment categories are also different. Full-time workers make up 53.6% of the poetry audience, compared with 49.3% of the potential audience. Part-time workers make up 15.0%, compared with 13.4%, while 31.4% is not employed, compared with 37.4%.
Marriage-status figures show 24.2% of the poetry audience has never married, compared with 11.7% of the potential audience. The married share is 53.9%, compared with 70.2%; separated or divorced respondents account for 13.0%, compared with 9.6%; and widowed respondents account for 7.4%, compared with 7.7%.
Income is more mixed. Household income below $10,000 accounts for 5.0% of the poetry audience, compared with 5.7% of the potential audience. The $10,000–$25,000 group is 12.3%, compared with 8.8%, and $25,000–$50,000 is 23.1%, compared with 22.7%. For $50,000–$75,000, the figures are 18.0% and 23.4%; for $75,000–$100,000, 13.7% and 11.1%; and for $100,000 or more, 15.6% and 14.8%.
How poetry fits into leisure and creative life
Poetry readers report broad cultural and creative engagement. Reading for leisure is reported by 97.2% of the poetry audience, compared with 91.6% of the potential audience. Listening to music is reported by 95.8%, compared with 85.6%, while watching television is reported by 86.7%, compared with 92.6%. Watching movies is 86.5%, compared with 82.6%.
The audience also reports more participation in several activities. Playing sports or exercising is 76.4%, compared with 73.0%. Using the internet or playing computer games is 74.4%, compared with 63.7%. Listening to talk radio is 67.3%, compared with 62.2%, and attending cultural events is 64.8%, compared with 47.1%.
Creative activity is particularly distinctive. Volunteering is reported by 56.3% of the poetry audience, compared with 40.2% of the potential audience. Writing is 57.1%, compared with 33.9%; drawing, painting, or crafting is 44.7%, compared with 30.8%; and playing an instrument or singing is 35.1%, compared with 17.3%.
Writing is not merely a general creative label in the report. Among current poetry readers and listeners, 37.2% wrote poetry as adults. The corresponding figure is 12.2% among current listeners only and 0.1% among former readers. Among poetry audience members who wrote poetry, 53.6% did so within the last year, 26.2% did so one to five years ago, 9.2% did so six to ten years ago, and 11.0% did so ten or more years ago. For the potential audience, the comparable figures are 22.7%, 13.6%, 9.1%, and 54.5%.
Early experiences and poetry education
Childhood exposure is much more common among the poetry audience. The Poetry in America summary report says 80.2% had nursery rhymes or Dr. Seuss read to them as children, compared with 67.5% of the potential audience. Other types of poetry were read to 51.5% of the poetry audience, compared with 24.6%. Among parents in the poetry audience, 95.4% read nursery rhymes or Dr. Seuss to their children, compared with 88.3% of potential-audience parents; 70.6% read other types of poetry, compared with 29.0%.
School experiences follow the same pattern. Poetry was studied in elementary school by 57.5% of poetry audience members, compared with 46.7% of the potential audience; in middle school or junior high by 63.1%, compared with 53.3%; in high school by 89.0%, compared with 79.1%; and in college by 53.6%, compared with 33.0%.
Specific classroom activities were also widespread. Reading a poem in school was reported by 98.4% of poetry audience members, compared with 92.3% of the potential audience. Memorizing a poem was reported by 80.2%, compared with 63.2%; reciting one by 85.7%, compared with 69.2%; and writing one by 82.9%, compared with 66.5%.
Parents were named as influential in early poetry experiences by 42.0% of poetry audience members, compared with 22.5% of the potential audience. One specific teacher was named by 33.6%, compared with 49.3%, and multiple teachers by 23.5%, compared with 26.8%. Relatives were cited by 18.2%, friends by 11.8%, grandparents by 10.6%, and one specific poet by 6.5%; the corresponding potential-audience figures were 12.7%, 9.9%, 2.8%, and 1.4%.
Libraries, the internet, buying, and sharing
Library access remains visible in the audience profile. A current library card is reported by 72.6% of poetry audience members, compared with 61.5% of the potential audience. In the poetry audience, 36.3% have borrowed poetry books from a library or read poetry there, 11.4% have borrowed or listened to poetry CDs, tapes, or videos there, and 7.1% have attended a library program related to poetry. The last figure compares with 0.5% of the potential audience.
Internet access is reported by 81.3% of poetry audience members, compared with 78.8% of the potential audience. More specific poetry use is reported by 36.5% of the poetry audience for finding, reading, or listening to poetry, compared with 4.8%. Finding information about poetry events online is reported by 13.6%, compared with 1.2%.
Purchasing and personal exchange are also more common among poetry audience members. In the last five years covered by the report, 48.0% bought poetry books or magazines, compared with 12.3% of the potential audience, and 14.8% bought poetry CDs, tapes, or videos, compared with 2.8%.
For books or magazines, 22.3% bought for themselves, 37.7% bought for someone else, and 40.0% bought for both. The corresponding potential-audience figures are 5.5%, 83.5%, and 11.0%. For poetry recordings, the audience figures are 25.1% for themselves, 34.9% for someone else, and 40.0% for both; the comparison figures are 0.0%, 85.7%, and 14.3%.
Sharing poetry extends beyond purchases. Lending a poetry book to a friend, relative, or co-worker is reported by 31.1% of the poetry audience, compared with 2.7% of the potential audience. Receiving a poetry book from one of those people is 39.7%, compared with 7.4%. Sharing poems is 51.5%, compared with 22.5%, while having poems shared with them is 72.8%, compared with 39.2%.
Where people encounter poetry
The report records poetry in both formal and everyday settings. Poetry audience members noticed poetry in newspapers at a rate of 71.3%, compared with 53.4% of the potential audience. The figures are 45.3% versus 30.6% on billboards, 32.5% versus 13.4% on public transportation, and 49.0% versus 30.2% at public events.
Private ceremonies are the most frequently reported setting in this group: 92.1% of poetry audience members noticed poetry there, compared with 81.0% of the potential audience. Another place was reported by 27.8%, compared with 9.7%.
Incidental exposure often led to positive responses. Among poetry audience members, 85.7% read or listened to a poem when they encountered it unexpectedly, compared with 66.6% of the potential audience. The poem was liked by 77.0%, compared with 68.0%, and found easy to understand by 80.2%, compared with 73.0%. After incidental exposure, 37.6% of poetry audience members wanted to read more poetry, compared with 12.2% of the potential audience.
Reading habits extend into non-poetry publications. Always reading poems in non-poetry magazines is reported by 50.9% of poetry audience members, compared with 41.3% of former poetry readers, 36.0% of non-poetry readers, and 49.1% of the total group. Always reading poems in non-poetry books is reported by 24.6% of the poetry audience; the report lists 41.3% for former poetry readers, 36.0% for non-poetry readers, and 49.1% for the total group.
Benefits, barriers, and ideas about poets
The most frequently cited benefits of poetry among audience members are relaxation at 25.6%, entertainment or enjoyment at 23.6%, and mind expansion or thinking at 22.5%. Other reported benefits include general understanding or enlightenment at 11.5%, understanding others at 10.6%, solace and comfort at 11.3%, inspiration at 9.1%, emotional release at 5.6%, understanding yourself at 5.6%, education at 4.0%, appreciation of language at 4.7%, and spiritual connection at 1.7%. Some other benefit is reported by 8.9%, while 9.2% cite no benefits. In the potential audience, no benefits is 31.6%.
Broader statements about poetry are similarly favorable. Poetry audience members say poems help them appreciate the world around them at 95.1%, make them laugh at 94.7%, help them understand other people at 90.4%, provide comfort at difficult times at 88.3%, keep their minds sharp at 86.8%, and help them understand themselves at 81.8%.
The audience still recognizes difficulty. Figuring out a poem’s meaning is considered difficult by 78.7%, compared with 84.4% of the potential audience. Reading poetry is called boring by 56.4%, compared with 81.2%; irrelevant to daily life by 53.8%, compared with 76.4%; hard work by 60.8%, compared with 67.8%; and a waste of time by 25.9%, compared with 48.6%.
Perceptions of poets are less narrowly defined among the poetry audience. Poets are seen as men by 27.5%, compared with 41.6% of the potential audience, and as women by 13.7%, compared with 15.1%. A total of 57.6% says poets are both genders or neither, compared with 40.7%. Poets are considered to have no particular age by 65.7%, compared with 60.7%, and no particular race by 82.5%, compared with 74.6%.
The audience describes poets as creative at 69.9%, compared with 78.4% of the potential audience. It sees poets as quiet at 52.2%, compared with 59.7%, and as loners at 39.1%, compared with 52.9%. At the same time, 75.1% says poets are people you meet, compared with 55.7%, while only 5.2% says poets are people you avoid, compared with 18.0%. These figures portray poetry readers as more likely to see poets as approachable and varied than as distant stereotypes.