haiku and tanka

[Julie B. K.]

Now that I've become interested in haiku, I'd like to learn more about tanka.  Do you have any introductory articles or information for beginners that would be helpful?

Thanks in advance.  :)

jublke

[cat]

Hello, J,

Since one of the best ways to learn a form is to read it, here are links to a couple of online journals.  One to check out is Modern English Tanka.  It changed hands last year, but you can link to the earlier editions here:

http://www.themetpress.com/MET/masthead.html

Another good place to read tanka is Atlas Poetica:

http://atlaspoetica.org/?page_id=21

And if you check out Tanka Central, you will find links to all kinds of tanka-related material:

http://www.themetpress.com/tankacentral/front.html

Hope this helps.

cat

[sandra]

Hi,

As per my message re Haiku NewZ on another thread:

http://www.poetrysociety.org.nz/aboutarchivedhaikuarticles

[Julie B. K.]

Thanks, cat & sandra.  I appreciate the links.  :)

Julie B. K.
(jublke)

[HaikuCowboy]

I'm a new subscriber of Ribbons and new member to Tanka Society of America (TSA).  Besides reading the wonderful articles listed above, I found reading Ribbons (which presents many different styles of tanka) to be quite illuminating. 

HaikuCowboy
Minneapolis

[Julie B. K.]

Thanks HaikuCowboy.  I hadn't heard of Ribbons before, so I'll have to check that out.  :)

[Edward Zuk]

A few notes to get you started:

Tanka is the older form.  It was, originally, gathered in court anthologies, and tanka makes up the earliest Japanese poetry that has survived. 

Tanka is often more personal than haiku, in the sense that tanka poets write more openly about their emotions and personal circumstances, at least in Japan.  A lot of tanka in English also use the first person.

Female poets have been prominent throughout the history of tanka.  Not only do The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu and the Pillow Book feature many famous tanka, but poets like Ono no Komachi and Akiko Yosano remain important in Japan.

Saigyo was a Zen poet who wrote tanka and had a tremendous influence on Basho.  Two of the Japanese poets I reread regularly in translation, Mokichi Saito and Ishikawa Takuboku, are among the most influential 20th century writers of tanka (along with the aforementioned Akiko Yosano and Shiki, among others).  They're both dark, moody poets and not to everyone's taste.

As you can tell, I'm interested in Japanese tanka primarily, though I'm sure there's a lot of fine work being produced in English, too.