On Sunday 19th September 2010, 16 enthusiastic participants and 2 presenters, from locations such as Canberra, Sydney, the Northern Beaches, and the Newcastle region, arrived at Wirramina for the fifth workshop of the Bowerbird Tanka Group. Beverley George’s home, with expansive views of the freshwater lagoon, was a stimulating and delightful venue for this convivial meeting. Everyone was very appreciative of Beverley for again convening and hosting the Bowerbird workshop within her Pearl Beach home.
Category: Tanka
Harbourside Poets, U3A Harbourside North McMahons Point Community Centre
All twelve members of the Harbourside Poets, U3A Harbourside North area, were present for Bev George’s tanka presentation on 24th August.
Bev gave us a relaxed but highly professional talk about the history of tanka and the different styles used today. There was much interaction and the learning process proceeded at a high level. We enjoyed a coffee break after an hour and here Bev was able to chat personally to members and this time also allowed members to browse through her wide display of haiku and tanka books.
We then settled to reading and work shopping prepared tanka written by each member.
Here we were so fortunate to have Bev’s invaluable skill of honing our work to move from the ordinary to highly polished gems … such an easy way to learn the intricacies of the beautiful form of tanka. Every member was delighted with the learned input and the sensitive manner in which it was executed by Bev.
Many thanks for an exquisite two hours Bev!
Dawn Bruce
Tanka workshop at Murrurrundi
In June I was invited to give a tanka workshop for Warrah Writers at Murrurrundi.
Murrurrundi is a delightful country town with fascinating rock formations nearby. The meeting place for the Warrah Writersis a room at the railway station which looked bleak when we entered but was soon made cosy and appealing by enterprising members. Two rugs were laid on the floor and four matching blue cloths on each long table. Two antique lamps were placed on the tables and a fire was expertly laid in the fireplace. In no time it was blazing and warmed the room effectively for the two and a half hours the workshop lasted. One slight interruption occurred when an 80 truck coal train passed by only feet away.
A stage two workshop for Warrah Writers is being planned for next year and also an address to a reading group called Scrolls, based near Quirindi . Scrolls was established over forty years ago and has over thirty active members.
Beverley George
Poems about Gaza
to read a moving tanka sequence about Gaza by Anne Benjamin
Rick Rack by Julie Thorndyke
On March 14, a full room of supporters and fans gathered at Baulkham Hills Library, Castle Hill, for the launch of rick rack, Julie Thorndyke’s book of tanka poetry. It was a wonderful event with a variety of readings with complementary music. Tim, Julie’s husband welcomed the guests and introduced Beverley George who launched the book with a short history of tanka’s origins and readings from Izumi Shikibu.
Julie presented tanka from her book, talking about her tanka journey with each tanka or sequence displayed against stunning visual images. The audience was moved by the impact and effectiveness of Julie’s tanka that covered the gamut of human experience.
There were other readings – a very moving sequence by Beverley George and Meredith Collins, then Julie and Beverley readLocket, their prize winning tanka sequence. The special guest, well known Japanese poet, Mariko Kitakubo, beautifully dressed in a silk kimono, read some of her tanka in Japanese, with Beverley reading the English translations by Amelia Fielden. Mariko accompanied the readings with the Hamohn, a Japanese musical instrument. There were also readings by the Tanka Huddle group from Eastwood Hills Fellowship of Australian Writers ( Those present were Carolyn Alfonzetti, Jan Foster, Beverley George, Anne Howard, Carmel Summers, David Terelinck, Julie Thorndyke).
The star of the show, though, was Julie’s wonderful tanka, which demonstrated why Julie is considered to be one of the leading tanka writers in Australia today.
Carmel Summers
Bower Birds
Bowerbird Tanka Workshop 22 February 2009
The third Bowerbird Tanka workshop was held on Sunday 22nd February, 2009 at Pearl Beach, NSW.
Workshop leaders Beverley George, Amelia Fielden and Kathy Kituai supported a full house of tanka enthusiasts in workshopping participant prepared poems. All present were encouraged and entertained by the wide range of poetry submissions, the expert feedback from the leaders and mutual appreciation of workshop members. What a joy to have so many creative minds together in one room at this tanka think-tank.
Kathy Kituai shared some of her writing secrets, then led the group in a creative session designed to court the muse. We were invited to engage with and reflect upon the creative process. I came away with a renewed sense of the pleasure of writing.
The lunchtime kukai on the theme paperbark was won by Carolyn Alfonzetti. The afternoon took the form of small group sessions to write renga on the theme 2008 was the year. During the day many books changed hands and many connections were made. Once again we owe Beverley George a sincere vote of thanks for organising and throwing open her home for this lively and congenial tanka workshop.
Julie Thorndyke
February 21, 2009
Saša Važić reviews Jack Fruit Moon by Robert D. Wilson
Jack Fruit Moon by Robert D. Wilson; published by Modern English Tanka Press, Baltimore, Maryland 21236, USA; pp. 204; ISBN 978-0-9817691-4-1; preface by Dr. Steven D. Carter; forward by Sanford Goldstein.
You’ve known me for years, better than anyone else. That’s what Robert says. And I stop to think…. Never seen that man. Does he even exist? Could be as I used to get a coltrane’s e-mails with a bulk of haiku, tanka, haibun… almost every day for some two or three years… I did not even have time to take a breath, to calm down my feelings. It was almost unbearable. The e-mail man never asked how I felt nor such a banal question as is: do you like my poems? I used to call him shadowman….a man from the shadow during those days. He had nothing against each other… So, we agreed. I know him.
almost 60
this gnarled tree reminds
me of an old
man riding a bicycle
in his underwear
Bowerbird Tanka Workshop
The second Bowerbird Tanka workshop was held on 26th October, 2008 at Beverley George’s welcoming home at Pearl Beach, NSW.
The presenters, Beverley George and Amelia Fielden, led a most enthusiastic and creative group of thirteen women throughout the perfect spring day.
Workshopping began with prepared tanka on the theme sport/recreation/hobby or an interest which was followed by a highly informative talk by Amelia Fielden about shasei (sketching from life).After lunch on Beverley’s sun deck by the lagoon, we worked in pairs rising to the challenge of writing a responsive string using memories as a theme and incorporating the newly learnt shasei.