Poetic Justice

Abstract. Poetry – the word itself can incite frustration, joy, nostalgia, derision, and most often, shrugs. For something that can cause such varied and strong emotions, poetry gets little notice from a vast majority of people. A huge cause of low readership is the general lack of exposure to poetry had by all but the most heavily engaged readers and poets themselves. The amount and quality of exposure readers have to poetry greatly impacts the perception they have of it, as well as their willingness to further engage with it in the future, especially considering the abundance of other entertainment options readily available.

In order to combat these issues, I’ve honed in on several common attitudes towards poetry and examined how different vehicles and modes for poetry might positively confront preconceptions of what poetry is, as well as the ways in which readers are meant to interact with it. To create a sustainable level of engagement, I’ve designed a system that pairs the immediacy and interest of the physical environment with the convenience and power of the web to re-present poetry to potential young adult readers, while maintaining