There is no Christmas without peace and yet war and genocide continue and these are ignored or even supported by the so-called ‘developed’ world, by the global north and beyond. The powers that be in Israel and its army continue to decimate Gaza and make illegal incursions into the West Bank. Our powers that be throw people into prison for genuine protest and show no empathy to those prisoners who are on hunger strikes. Russian aggression towards Ukraine is unabated and threatens to draw us into a war that nobody wants. The internal horrors of the Sudan, the Congo and other parts of the world go on and on and on.
Poetry is a bulwark against all this. It highlights and confronts the darkness. It is the conscience of the world. It says and does what others cannot in ways that are both subtle and overt. It can change minds and build up hope.
So thank-you to those who keep IS&T going: to editor Helen Ivory; to Zahra, IB, Elontra and Sairah who have all been editing interns this year; to those who submit to us and who read the work published here; to those who follow us on our social media accounts – Instagram, Facebook, X and Bluesky – and who share our posts; and to those who have contributed to and bought our books.
And keep on going on. Enjoy the holidays. Connect with your families and friends. Keep talking, keep shouting, keep reading, keep writing. Keep hoping!
Kate Birch
Publisher