Blossoms blaze
on a drunken tree.
Heaven’s gift:
joy at winter’s end.
One is not enough.

Old patterns ignored
No room for frogs and crickets
Crowded modern pond

David is qualified to host a Tanka event, or if he prefers not to, he most certainly knows those who can. And as David and Alex indicated, Lee doesn't do Tanka. Haiku and Tanka are separate schools of Japanese formal poetry and often times, at least traditionally, the two do not come together in one poet.

Just for clarity's sake: David A. may be qualified to host Tanka, but David R. is only qualified to host haiku. I am sure Father Rob meant David A., but I want to make sure it's all clear. The very Sphere abounds in Davids.

Meanwhile, re: Haibun -- conducting a workshop on haibun the way we usually do the haiku workshop might be a bit unwieldy, but a discussion about it as part of Lee's visit might be workable. I will try to make it so.

David R.

PS -- looking at the little exchange in this thread between David A. and Michael C., I wonder how one might construct a forum for composing renga. The thread structure of online boards seems a natural fit for it. But this is a digression....

David A is an authority on tanka. David Gwyllam Anthony, will you leap into the breach?

Patricia, I'm sure if enough interest is expressed when Lee Gurga's event begins, I believe he'll include haibun.

I'll also add a note here for David Rosenthal, who's hosting the event, to request the inclusion of haibun when he starts setting up the workshop kickoff with Lee.

Cheers,
...Alex

Indeed, given the interest in tanka, I've now included a tanka workshop with David Anthony in the lineup. This will precede Lee Gurga's event.

Did I say "interest"? David is concerned that he and Fr. Robert Pecotte may be the only ones interested in tanka. However, I know he'll make things interesting enough to get quite a few from the Met and Non-Met crowd to cross over and try their hands at it. That's where you all come in, Right!?

Cheers,
...Alex

Count me in as one who is very interested. I've written a good deal of linked tanka (sometimes interspersed with Western rhymed and metered stanzas in a he said/she said format), a number have been published, and one even received a Pushcart nomination, but I really don't know what I'm doing.

I have some understanding of haiku, but I'm not sure - beyond the syllable count - regarding the guidelines for tanka or linked tanka in terms of what is intended to be accomplished, and what tools should the poet use? What makes it "special", and different from any other five line syllabic poem? Is irony always a factor, for example? Word play? Elements of nature/season, as in haiku? Dunno. I essentially treat it as extended and more flexible haiku. I use tanka only in narrative poems on Japan, where it appears to fit in and help, and I force a Japanese-like flatness into the rhythm, trying to avoid slipping into meter. And, like haiku, I try to work with images and impressions, and let the reader do the rest of the work. But basically, what tanka provides me is "Japanese-ness", and I don't think that was the original intention, since the Japanese didn't have to worry about whether their poetry sounded Japanese. Additional insight would be appreciated and helpful.

Thanks, Alex. I'll be looking forward to October with its tanka, haiku (with, possibly, haibun) events.

All best!

Yes, I hope haibun will be included.