It is an emotional and powerful group of poems that makes up the shortlist for our July 2018 ‘Pick of the Month’. They will hit you hard and it will be equally hard to choose the one that affects you most. But do take the time to go through the six exceptional works below (or click on ‘Vote for your July 2018 Pick of the Month′ in the Categories list to your right on the screen.) These have either been chosen by Helen and Kate or received the most attention on social media.

Voting is now closed. The winner will be announced at 4pm on Friday 10th August.

The winner each month will be sent a £10 book giftcard or, if preferred, a donation of the same amount will be made to a chosen charity. In the event of the winner being from outside the UK mainland, we will make every effort to provide a reasonable alternative. All shortlisted poetry Picks, provided they remain unpublished and meet other eligibility criteria, will be considered as IS&T submissions for the annual Forward Prize for Best Single Poem.