The People's Favourite Poems

Can you make a living from poetry? Gary Dexter had to. Career scuppered by a debilitating eye condition, newly married and mortgaged, and the proud owner of a 20-year-old degree in Modern Verse, he did the only thing possible. He learned by heart as many poems as he could, then hit the streets, offering passers-by to recite them in return for a voluntary cash donation. To his surprise, it became a regular job, bringing in a much-needed £12.45 / hour. More surprising, though, were his encounters with the nation's poetry-lovers and -haters (often after closing time)