Great idea or gimmick? Artist's impression
of Tom Paulin performing on a pod
A little bit of Belle and Sebastian, perhaps. A spot of Dylan. A Bach sonata. But how about a burst of Benjamin Zepheniah?
Listening to poetry on your iPod may not be everyone's idea of entertainment, but a new website called iPoems (which has nothing to do with iTunes or its owner, Apple) is setting out to persuade audiences that downloadable poems read by their authors are the next big thing - and worth 50p per poem.
Following hard on the heels of Salt Publishing - which offers free podcasts of poets reading their works - 57 Productions, an organisation that promotes performance poets, plans to have the new iPoems site live in the autumn.
Writers who will be represented on the site include Benjamin Zephaniah, Linton Kwesi Johnson, John Hegley, Roger McGough, Ian McMillan, the late Michael Donaghy and Michael Rosen.
Rosen supports the move, saying he could see poems taking their place alongside music on iPods: "A stretch of Bob Dylan, a bit of Roger McGough, and back to Bruce Springsteen? Yes, why not."
iPoems will pay poets a proportion of its 50p per poem charge as a royalty, but that is not a real consideration for writers, says Rosen. "I don't think there are many poets who expect to make money from publishing. This provides a bridge between us and our audiences. The written word, live performance, TV, radio, the internet - all these forms should be enriching each other and helping each other."
But not everyone agrees. Michael Schmidt, professor of poetry at Glasgow University and editorial director of poetry publisher Carcanet, is more cautious. His publishing house has been considering downloads for its own site, but he isn't convinced it's worth it. "50p is a lot of money," he says. "Would you want to have Benjamin Zephaniah on your iPod? I wouldn't.
"This is a case of technology determining the artform, which I find disheartening. There are all kinds of things - experimental poetry, concrete poems - that would not work as a download."
But what do you think? Would you pay to have a poet on your iPod? And, if so, who would it be?
