The 'Tortured Poets Department' listening party

Do Taylor Swift's lyrics stand up as poetry? We invited three Toronto poets to weigh in on her new album

- SARAH LAING

Taylor Swift has said she dabbles in poetry. But this is the first time she's directly staked her claim as a poet, repeatedly referring to the new album's lyrics not as songs but as "tortured poetry."

When Taylor Swift was in Grade 5, she won a national poetry contest with a free-verse meditation on “The Monster in My Closet.”

Notable couplets include “Is he purple with red eyes?/I wonder what he likes to eat,” and “Could it be he wants to eat me?/Maybe I’m his favourite tray.”

About 20 years and several shelves of songwriting awards later, Swift has returned to her literary roots with her 11th studio album, “The Tortured Poets Department.”

Of course, “Taylor as poet” is not a new concept: in interviews, Swift has said she dabbles in the form; a lyric in her song “Sweet Nothing” references writing verses during a car ride. But this is the first time she’s directly staked her claim as a poet, repeatedly referring to the new album’s lyrics not as songs but as “tortured poetry.”

We took this as an invitation to ask three published, award-winning Toronto poets to weigh in on Swift’s literary merit at a listening party on the album’s release day. The assignment: dissect three new songs as though Swift were a writer workshopping new pieces.

Joining us was Sanna Wani, a poet and poetry editor whose latest book, “My Grief, the Sun,” was released in 2022. The Swiftie on this panel, Wani listened to Swift’s 2012 album “Red” on her way over.