It seems there are a couple of dedicated poetry libraries in England, one in Scotland, but not a single one in Wales - the land of poetry!
This is a petition asking Senedd Cymru to establish such a dedicated library if anyone would like to support the idea:
Helo Deborah
You now have 322 signatures. I would be interested to know where in England they have dedicated poetry libraries if you know. Thank you.
Karen
There’s one in Southbank, London and another in Manchester. The petition was started by Ben Gwalchmai, a Welsh writer.
Poetry and songs are what attracted me to Welsh, no doubt it’s an amazing language for it, then, it’s always great when someone wants to support it.
However I had never heard of the existence of Poetry Libraries (anywhere in the world) and I’m not sure I can fully guess why it’s better to have it separated from the prose.
Just out of curiosity, a question to anyone reading here: what do you think?
Signed.
@gisella-albertini I must admit I hadn’t heard of Poetry Libraries before but I think it’s a fantastic idea. Poetry is arguably the oldest literary form (older than the novel, at least), and I would imagine that the oldest poetry probably maintains links with oral art-forms that go back to pre-history. But if you go into any library or bookshop, the space poetry is given relative to prose is usually tiny, meaning that a lot of poetry will just never make it onto the shelf. Having a poetry library means that the full range of poets, genres and literary periods can be represented and preserved, not to mention supporting those lesser known poets who would fall off the end of the list in mainstream selections.
I can imagine a poetry library being an absolute treasure trove for scholars of different disciplines, as well as preserving unique cultural heritage and being a place of hours of enjoyment and exploration.
Just my opinion, but I’m going to make it my mission to visit a poetry library one of these days!