Poetry
STAR POems: Bramble
(Blackberry brambles can be stripped of their thorns and used to fashion baskets and other useful artefacts). The first man clips off her thorns one by one, turns her placid and tractable, cuts her [… read more ]
Articles by Tom Sykes
Culture
INSIDE: A Pompey Gamer’s Walkthrough
Portsmouth gamer Toxic Buddha takes on a thrilling new animated game, INSIDE, named “Best Independent Game” in the Game Critics Awards. INSIDE follows the journey of a small boy running from a series of mysterious [… read more ]
Culture
Jack Kerouac: Why the King of the Road Didn’t Want his Crown
Portsmouth-based blogger and critic Jordan Osborne looks at the less romantic aspects of Beat icon Jack Kerouac’s cultural legacy. ‘What is that feeling when you’re driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you [… read more ]
Fiction
A Corrupting Influence Part I
Laszlo Dumitrescu returns, and he’s made some interesting and powerful friends. In my first month I have made many friends in the business and rotary circles of Portsmouth. On my desk there is photograph [… read more ]
Social Issues
Are We Losing Our Community Spirit? The Struggle to Keep Southsea Greenhouse Alive
Sue Stokes, founder of Southsea Greenhouse Community Co-operative, explores the social revolution at the heart of community groups and the challenges involved in keeping the dream of a caring, sharing Portsmouth alive. When I left [… read more ]
Culture
From Student Blog to Graphic Adventure
Nica Tomasiello discusses her exciting new project to turn her blog about life as a University of Portsmouth student into an innovative graphic novel. Some of you have already heard of J.A.S.I.P. at least a couple of [… read more ]
Poetry
STAR POems: Point of View
Citadel of crows: dagger-beaked above the motorcycles ranked out front of Mick’s monster burger van. Hop. Skip. Peck up what’s left over; their bare-faced opportunism rising and landing between the wheels. This ridge is [… read more ]
Politics
Why I Support A Second Referendum
A response to the first referendum and hopes for a second from Francis Lovering, a concerned Portsmouth resident and European. The recent referendum has left more people distressed than the aftermath of any general election [… read more ]
Social Issues
Talking to the Lads About Feminism
Parent, blogger and S&C regular Maddie Wallace talks to her two sons about feminism. I think at nine and ten my boys are more than ready to begin to take on board the idea that girls and women, who may be anatomically [… read more ]
Social Issues
My Granddad and Others Failed by Care Homes
Lisa Churchyard draws on a painful personal experience to highlight the neglect and carelessness that characterise far too many of our homes for the elderly. Two years ago my grandfather, Kenneth Mather, found himself scared, confused, freezing [… read more ]