At a poetry reading, do you prefer to applaud each poem – or to wait in respectful silence until the poet has completed the reading? To put it another way, are you a whooper and hollerer – or a polite murmurer? And poets – which reception do you prefer? Is it all to do with the time you have to read, and the place where you are reading? And even the kind of poem you are reading – or performing – as well?

If anyone is interested in my piece on this topic, which Andy refers to, it's here: https://angelatopping.wordpress.com/2015/08/12/applauding-between-poems/

Hullo!

As a spoken word artist living in an area where there's a good crossover between page and mic poetry, I've developed the following rule.

If it's a 'reading', there's polite applause at the end.

If it's a 'performance', then anything goes.

I'm definitely of the anything goes camp as it adds to the atmosphere. Plus it feels really good as a performer!