Traditionally, English poetry was a product of art, craft and technique: all three accumulated and evolved under the influence of the many cultures that intertwined over several centuries. This yielded opportunities for vast variety and subtlety of expression, which two attributes were probably key to the popularity of poetry among the general public in the past. But relatively recently almost this entire heritage has been abandoned in favour of attempts at novelty before all, with technique taking precedence over both the art and the craft. Not surprisingly, the resulting works commonly lack the depth of expression, memorability and appeal that were characteristic of the best poetry created using the full tripartite tool kit.

It's hardly a coincidence that the wider public ignores most currently written poetry. It's become akin to a cult – poets writing for poets, who read, review and publish each others' work. Nobody's stopping to ask why that wider public has increasingly lost interest in it or how to arouse that interest again.

My aim here is primarily to try to answer those important questions, as unless we can discover how to stem the continuing decline in public interest, poetry as a serious art form will not survive for much longer.

I hope you'll join me on my quest for the answers.