On buying poetry

I am musing (and not for the first time) on how and why I buy poetry i.e. the decision making process.

Poetry is big.  When people say they dislike poetry I like to challenge them.  To me it’s like saying I dislike movies or novels, the category is too big, too diverse in form and content to really make that claim.

I do understand that what they are probably saying is they haven’t liked the poetry they have thus far been exposed to (which if they are Australian is precious little).

It’s taken me a while to find the poetry and poets that I like and as I look back over my collecting I note the following:

• none of my purchases stem from critical industry reviews
• some stem from having heard the poet read their work(podcasts/YouTube)
• some from having borrowed a work from the library and decided that I want a copy for myself
• some from blogs where people indicate their reactions to certain poets and poems

What about other folk interested in poetry?  How do you decide what to purchase?