Tanka is the oldest form of Japanese poetry, with a written history of at least 1300 years. Longer and more heart centered than the better known Haiku poetic form, these poems are little songs that speak to us as much as they did to people long ago. We'll start out with Tanka both old and new, some by Jim and some by others. Jim will then share some poems in various styles by modern authors he particularly likes. The evening will conclude with readings of several Renga, another form of Japanese poetry which means "linked verse". Renga arose naturally out of the Tanka form, and one way of looking at Renga is that it is the elegant linking of a series of Tanka.
Jim Wilson published the first English-language magazine devoted to Renga, back in the mid-80s. His work has been published in a variety of poetry magazines and anthologized in The Narrow Road to Renga, The San Francisco Haiku Anthology, and Ash Moon.
