Pop goes the poetry mag

Popshot, the UK poetry magazine that gained international distribution after just four issues, is about to explode.  Tom Chatfield of Prospect Magazine chats with Popshot's 23-year-old editor and founder Jacob Denno about the how and the why of it all:

TC: Why poetry in particular?

JD: I think it came from a deep-rooted love of children’s books. We learn how to appreciate rhythm and meter as children with the plethora of nonsense poetry and hand-me-down children’s rhymes. I’ve always been a massive fan of rhyme but there’s very few people that can pull it off eloquently.

Denno also riffs on the merger of poetry with other genres:

TC: Performance has been transforming poetry recently. Why do you think it’s becoming so big; and what kind of effect do you think it has on writing?

JD: I think performance poetry appeals to our sense of rhythm and timing, and that is one major reason. Spoken word/performance poetry is also doing a fine job of making a connection between music and poetry. Last issue we started including spoken word artists in Popshot and I feel it has given the magazine a deeper aesthetic.