§ Gillian MerronTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what support his Department gives to supporting and promoting poetry. [156219]
§ Mr. Alan HowarthMy Department has supported a range of poetry initiatives including National Poetry Day, Poems on the Underground and the T. S. Eliot Prize.
In 2000–01, the Arts Council of England spent £1.649 million directly on literature. Of this nearly two-thirds has been spent either directly or indirectly on promoting and supporting a variety of poetry organisations including the Poetry Society and the Poetry Book Society, poetry publishers including Carcanet Press and Anvil Press Poetry and poetry magazines including PN Review.
The Arts Council recently announced the biggest ever increase in literature funding from 2002–03. This increase includes a 57 per cent. increase for the Poetry Book Society and a 42 per cent. increase for the Poetry Society.
Poetry has also benefited from support to cross-artform initiatives such as the New Audiences programme and the National Lottery which awarded the Poetry Society £450,000 for an initiative which employed poets throughout England to encourage the reading and writing of poetry.
Finally, the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts is making awards directly to individual poets to support their creative development. To date, it has awarded Carol Ann Duffy, Lavinia Greenlaw, Gwyneth Lewis and Tom Paulin nearly £300,000 to enable them to create new work and develop their talent.