Poetic Presence and its Possibilities

October 28, 2026   Sharon Murphy

Poetry is having a moment.  From the awarding of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature to Canadian poet Anne Carson to a recent report from the National Literacy Trust in England indicating that more children are reading poetry in their free time, poetry is edging its way into society’s consciousness. While Nobel Prizes may seem far removed from our everyday lives, the prize draws the world’s attention to poetry, and the beauty, shape and sound of language. This focus on the beauty, shape and sound of language seems to be something children are choosing to think about. About 30 percent of children surveyed by the National Literacy Trust chose to read poetry in their free time, a percentage not matched across the years from 2010 to the present. Not only that, when children aged 8 to 11 are the focus, the percentage increases to just over 46%. Children are also writing poetry.

So why might this focus on poetry be something to cheer about? Well, first of all, poetry reminds us that “all of our language is relational: we cannot know anything except in terms of something else” (Pullinger, 2017, p. 42). For example, in poetry, we have to pay attention to “the patterning of sound—that is the musical aspect—and the modes of meaning created by similarity and contiguity—that is, metaphor and metonymy” (Pullinger, 2017, p. 49). The words we listen to invite us to make connections to words, sounds, and to others through the ideas we hear. Poetry provides “a foundation for both representation and expression” (Johnson, 2007, p. 314) by linking cognition and affect. The sound play that is part of poetry catches children’s attention and engages them, while supporting literacy skills such as phonological awareness (Rasinski, 2014) and language learning (Hadaway, Vardell & Young, 2001; McCauley & McCauley, 1992).

Listening to poetry and reading poetry are pleasurable experiences, so slipping a poetry reading into the schedule at the start of each day not only might offer untold benefits to students, but it may send even more children scurrying to the poetry section of class and school libraries.  

References

Hadaway, N. L., Vardell, S. M., & Young, T. A. (2001). Scaffolding oral language development through poetry for students learning English. The Reading Teacher, 54(8), 796–806.

Johnson, H. L. (2007). Aesthetic experience and early language and literacy development. Early Child Development and Care, 177(3), 311–320. doi:10.1080/03004430500495576.

McCauley, J. K., & McCauley, D. S. (1992). Using choral reading to promote language learning for ESL students. The Reading Teacher, 45(7), 526–533.

Pullinger, D. (2017). From tongue to text: A new reading of children’s poetry. London: Bloomsbury.

Rasinski, T. (2014). Tapping the power of poetry. Educational Leadership, 72(3), 30–34.