by Kate Birch | Sep 17, 2024 | News, Picks of the Month
flowing beautiful lines of emotion Again and again, the word beautiful came up in comments along with ‘sublime’ ‘lovely’ ‘stunning’ and ‘gorgeous’. But voters also loved the geographic connection, the use of map dimensions and the mirroring in a poem that could seem...
by Kate Birch | Aug 18, 2024 | News, Picks of the Month
The poem speaks truth ‘When young boys go missing was a poem that so many voters, many of whom are based in Nigeria, found relatable and relevant, found it showed a ‘truth’ that many of us in the global north are just barely conscious of, and it is for these reasons...
by Kate Birch | Jul 21, 2024 | News, Picks of the Month
Beautiful interweaving of nature and human concerns The word ‘beautiful’ was repeated again and again in voters’ comments as this subtle, understated poem revealed the tragic death of a sister that lay at the heart of it, and it is for this reason and more that Robin...
by Kate Birch | Jun 8, 2024 | Picks of the Month
It stopped me in my tracks. I was there by the graveside full of emotion and discomfort and – now I feel disturbed but compassionate One voter’s words that very much summed up why Jenny Mitchell’s ‘What Part of Me?’ is the IS&T Pick...
by Kate Birch | May 15, 2024 | News, Picks of the Month
‘Deft, dark, brilliantly written’ This poem appealed on so many layers: A remembered experience of children’s parties, with either fondness or dismay. Childhood memories and an unsettling sense of being in limbo. A limbo that we all are unnerved by, a...
by Kate Birch | Apr 20, 2024 | News, Picks of the Month
This poem is pure enchantment. The captivating vocabulary intensely immersive imagery had the hairs on the back of my neck prickled from the outset. Voters loved the imagery, the descriptive power of this poem. They found it evocative, eerie, heart-wrenching. And for...
