Poetry and responsibility

I think poets have very little influence, though they can cause offense. Given the low readership that poetry attracts, poets and editors might think they can ignore prevailing trends. Perhaps they can for a while, but an unfortunate phrase can be taken out of context and go viral. As a comedian has said, "Today we’re all one clumsy joke away from public ruin.” I don't write the kind of poetry that challenges taste, and I avoid writing about family and friends. Diversity-wise I don't do so well. I end up writing only about what I know. I'm working on it.

I've noticed a bit of a backlash against political correctness and the crasser aspects of diversity drives. Rishi Dastidar's "Diversity campaign" poem is fun, with "the smiling, camp White man; the pretty, submissive East Asian women; the Afro-Caribbean guy who we still feel is threatening so we've put him at the back; the South Asian wearing glasses - obviously he's good with numbers. Although we never manage to include the wheelchair user we're always meaning to".

I've written some articles about the issues, including material harvested from the web. See -

• Tact attacked (dangers of being too nice)
• Offensive poetry (what might hurt/anger readers)
• A guide to diversity/inclusion for writers and editors (adding variety)