Forget page-turners and celebrity memoirs, Brits have rekindled their love of verse.
More than a million poetry books were sold in the last year, the highest number on record, as the popularity of social media sensations such as Rupi Kaur continues to reinvigorate the art form. Sales are up 13%, to £10.5m, according to figures from Nielsen Book Research.
Kaur, whose latest book hit shelves this week, is at the heart of the boom. Her debut anthology, Milk and Honey, broke all records when it was released in 2016, and this year it has sold more copies than the rest of the top 10 poets combined. Kaur is even outselling heavyweight fiction writers such as Ian McEwan and Anne Tyler.