 
							
					
															
					
					 by Kate Birch | Oct 19, 2025 | News, Picks of the Month
Quietly devasting poem Fresh, alive, original, funny Voters had a range of reactions to our winning poem this month. They saw it as striking, powerful, beautiful, eloquent and ‘quietly devastating’. It was honest and to the point. It was unsettling and yet...				
					
			
					
											
								 
							
					
															
					
					 by Kate Birch | Sep 15, 2025 | News, Picks of the Month
Evocative, descriptive, challenging and uplifting The eloquence of phrase and sentiment and timing is brilliant. It is for these reasons and many more that voters chose ‘sclerenchyma’ by John Bartlett as the IS&T Pick of the Month for August 2025. They...				
					
			
					
											
								 
							
					
															
					
					 by Kate Birch | Sep 1, 2025 | Featured, News, Poetry
Grace Phillips is the 14th student to be awarded the University of East Anglia’s Ink Sweat & Tears Poetry Writing Scholarship (MA). This was established by IS&T publisher Kate Birch in 2011 and followed seven years later by the Birch Family Scholarship, set up...				
					
			
					
											
								 
							
					
															
					
					 by Kate Birch | Aug 16, 2025 | News, Picks of the Month
This poem was as unexpected as a story plot! I loved it. This was a poem that mixed physics with philosophy, loss with whimsy and caught voters unawares with its perspective and observation. It is for these reasons and many more that Paul Chuks’ beautiful,...				
					
			
					
											
								 
							
					
															
					
					 by Kate Birch | Jul 29, 2025 | News, Picks of the Month
Because it is a beautiful evocation of the land/Palestine’s grief ‘Homeland’ by Rachael Clyne powerfully pinpoints the current horrors of the world, particularly the genocide in Gaza, but also speaks to the general sorrow of displacement and loss of...				
					
			
					
											
								 
							
					
															
					
					 by Kate Birch | Jul 1, 2025 | News
  Fundamentals 1. There is only one ball but countless ways to help your team. 2. Intentions matter: win or lose each game requires your fullest effort 3. The jump-shot is a fickle partner restless — it will stray from time to time; don’t fall in love with it....