Roses are red,

violets are blue,

we’re celebrating poetry month,

and we hope you are too!

That’s right, we’re starting April in the best way possible: enjoying the Spring weather, celebrating the work of poets, and sharing quarterly data-driven insights into a specific corner of the Canadian book market in our Subject spotlight series.

Let’s find out just how popular Poetry books were among book buyers and library patrons during the first quarter of 2022, as tracked by our SalesData and LibraryData services.

Buying Poetry

.@BookNet_Canada shares insights into buying and borrowing of Poetry titles during the first quarter of 2022.
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Looking at the year-over-year sales of Poetry books from January to March 2021 and 2022, we see that this subject performed better in 2021. In January 2022, there was a year-over-year decrease of 22%, by February the change was more significant at 33% less in 2022 than 2021, and finally, reaching March with a decrease of 32%.

Even though the pattern of sales for both years is similar, there are some differences worth noting.

Let’s zoom in on 2021 first. Overall, the sales during the first quarter decreased by 18%. Taking a closer look, we see that from January to February sales decreased by 19%, but from February to March there was a slight increase of 2%.

Now, in 2022, the overall decrease in sales for the first quarter was 28%. The most notable change happened from January to February when sales decreased by 30%, a decrease that was higher than during the same period in the previous year. However, similar to 2021, there was a 3% increase in sales from February to March.

Line graph comparing book sales between January, February, and March 2021 and 2022 in the Poetry BISAC category.

When it comes to Poetry BISAC subcategories with high year-over-year increases from 2021 to 2022, these three are at the top:

Non-Fiction / Poetry / Medieval — up 234%
Non-Fiction / Poetry / African — up 84%
Non-Fiction / Poetry / Middle Eastern — up 48%

From January to March 2022, the most purchased Poetry subcategories were:

Non-Fiction / Poetry / General — 24% of all Poetry sales
Non-Fiction / Poetry / Subjects & Themes — 23% of all Poetry sales
Non-Fiction / Poetry / Women Authors — 19% of all Poetry sales

Borrowing Poetry

How popular were Poetry titles at Canadian libraries in the first quarter of 2021 and 2022? Let’s find out.

Year-over-year library loans of Poetry titles were 54% higher in January 2022. This changed in February and March when loans decreased by 38% and 45% respectively compared to 2021.

Renewals saw similar behaviour. In January, the year-over-year difference in renewals of Poetry titles was 29%, and February and March saw decreases of 13% and 17% respectively.

Even though loans in 2021 were lower compared to 2022, the month-to-month trend is upward with increases of 7% from January to February and 19% from February to March. Renewals from January to February and February to March saw decreases of 1% and 3%.

Looking at 2022, we see that library loans started strong in January, however, by February they saw a decrease of 57%, going back up in March by 4%. Renewals from January to February and February to March saw decreases of 33% and 8%.

Line graph comparing book loans and renewals between January, February, and March 2021 and 2022 in the Poetry BISAC category.

What Poetry BISAC subcategories were most popular in libraries during the first quarter of 2022 compared to 2021? Here’s the list:

Non-Fiction / Poetry / Epic — loans up 33% and renewals up 220%
Non-Fiction / Poetry / Ancient & Classical — loans up 32% and renewals up 152%
Non-Fiction / Poetry / Caribbean & Latin American — loans up 17% and renewals up 68%

The most circulated Poetry subcategories are:

Non-Fiction / Poetry / American — 22% of all Poetry loans and 22% of all Poetry renewals
Non-Fiction / Poetry / General — 20% of all Poetry loans and 21% of all Poetry renewals
Non-Fiction / Poetry / Subjects & Themes — 12% of all Poetry loans and 11% of all Poetry renewals