Poetry reading has seen a dramatic resurgence among young adults, concludes a new study by the National Endowment for the Arts.
The share of 18- to-24-year-olds who read poetry more than doubled between 2012 and 2017, rising from 8.2 percent in 2012 to 17.5 percent last year. That’s in spite of a 13 percent decrease in the use of fiction texts in classrooms during that period, the study finds. However, 41 percent of teachers still said that they go to fiction over literary nonfiction or informational texts, a recent survey on English teaching in the Common Core State Standards era showed.
The increase for those 18 to 24, coupled with a similar-size boost in poetry reading among 25- to 34-year-olds, places young adults above all other age groups when it comes to poetry-reading rates. Children younger than 18 were not part of the survey. –L.G.
