London, Feb 28 : Poetry's grassroots scene is growing, all thanks to the Internet, say writers themselves.

Technologies like email, social networking sites such as Facebook and online media players are helping poets reach new audiences.

Richard Smith, a published poet who is also head of modern collections at the British Library, said that computers are helping poetry, reports The Telegraph.

He said: "What''s interesting is its counter-intuitive. You would have thought that poetry and pamphlets would be failing in the face of the internet, but that isn''t happening."

He argued: "It''s very like the relationship between the net and live music.

"It''s perfectly possible to make music records fairly cheaply, put them up on the net and that''s it.

"You would expect live music to disappear but it hasn''t, the opposite has happened."

He went on: "At a basic level the net helps to build email lists, but more importantly you can build all kinds of social networks."

Poetry reading groups - known as "series" - are becoming stronger thanks to the growth of online communities to back them up, he said.

"These reading series often have Facebook groups around them. The net is helping smaller networks get together across the country so there''s now more sense of solidarity between them," he added. (ANI)