TWENTY YEARS
TANKA SPLENDOR
AHA Books
Twenty Years Tanka Splendor
Copyright © Jane Reichhold 2009.
Poems Copyright © Designated Authors.
All rights reserved.
AHA Books
P.O. Box 767
Gualala, CA 95445
USA
Jane@AHApoetry.com
www.AHApoetry.com
Twenty Years
Tanka Splendor
In celebration of twenty years
of the Tanka Splendor Awards contest.
1990 – 2009
Jane Reichhold, Editor
Sponsored by AHA Books
Winners of the 2009 Tanka Splendor Awards
Jennifer Anygal
Megan Arkenberg x 2
Pamela A. Babusci
Collin Barber
John Barlow
Ava C. Cipri
Jeanne Emrich
Michael L. Evans
Amelia Fielden
Trish Fong
Michele Harvey
Christopher Herold x 2
Ruth Holzer
Doreen King
Philomene Kocher
Angela Leuck
Darrell Lindsey x 2
Michael McClintock
Matthew Paul
Kala Ramesh
Edward Rielly
Adelaide B. Shaw
Paul Smith
John Soules
Laurence Stacey x 2
Eduard Tara
David Terelinck x 2
Julie Thorndyke
Alex von Vaupel x 2
Dick Whyte
(Numbers indicate more than one poem won.)
THE WINNING POEMS
I think I love you
but then, I’ve thought before
that dandelions heard wishes
and daisies could tell
if you loved me, or not
Megan Arkenberg
I am remembering
that winter night
you stayed so silent
outside, the pine trees
blue with distance
in my bedroom
the perfect corner
for a spider
to do nothing
in the dark
John Barlow
another day
when I failed to find
the answers . . .
the sound of rain
slanting through darkness
driving by my
childhood home
I find another family
has moved into
my earliest memories
Michael L. Evans
up all night
working on a poem
about the sea
I write a barefoot dance
with the incoming tide
still empty
my black lacquer box
awaiting
something too precious
to lie uncovered
Trish Fong
i fell in love
when i noticed you
across the café
sharing your rye bread
with the courtyard sparrows
no room left
for discussion. . .
finally
I give my ear, my whole heart
to the voice of a mourning dove
Christopher Herold
California poppies
so many I almost forgot
to see the orange
of a single flower . . .
and to give your hand a squeeze
steady rain . . .
still only half awake
I wonder
which of these thoughts will be
the one to rouse me from bed
Ruth Holzer
autumn night
again the clamor of geese
flying away
soon I will be
nobody's child
Doreen King
sprinkling ashes
along our favourite valley
for miles
the white star flowers
streaked with mist
Philomene Kocher
rain washes the dust
from the bus window
and I can see
more clearly
what tears do
the drought ends
so simply
rain
on parched earth
his lips on mine
Darrell Lindsey
our blue bag
of recyclables
placed curbside –
yet you would waste years of love
without sorting through much at all
sideways winds
making the rain gauge
halfway worthless –
I hesitate to guess
what else I may be reading wrong
Michael McClintock
telling anyone
who would listen –
look here
my brother gave me a marble
that's just like a cat's eye
the fanning
of a collared dove’s
tail feathers…
evening light cascades
across the cemetery
Kala Ramesh
bedcovers
crease into ripples
of desire
on our first night
we go by the book
early morning light
disappears between us
as my arms encircle
the comforting warmth
of who we have become
Adelaide B. Shaw
late dusk –
flickering sunlight
in the ravine
I wait for fireflies
to fill the void
waiting
for shooting stars
once again
alone on the patio
a pocket full of wishes
Laurence Stacey
news
of your parole
after ten long years –
camellias reach
for the gate post
surviving
a fire
and two siblings –
my travel copy
of the Tao
Eduard Tara
In this afternoon
guiding a silent shadow
to my parents’ grave –
having enough time to leave
my own footprints in snow
by the bay
the fog lifts –
my mother
no longer marooned
by alzheimers
David Terelinck
in the stillness
of a sitka spruce stand
I look to you
and know some can only grow
in the shadow of others
retirement dinner –
on his wrinkled face
the wistful look
of a little boy
waiting to be loved
Alex von Vaupel
sunrise
over the slight curve
of his chest
a silver hair turns
briefly golden
exhausted
after another fight
we sit down
the wind continues
slamming doors
Dick Whyte
autumn rain –
the coat I haven't
worn in
over a year
still smells of her
WINNING SEQUENCES
THE ROSEWOOD BIRD
Jennifer Angyal
summer mornings
your whistled tune
a bridge
into wakefulness
the valley echoes
tying the kite
to the lilac hedge
to sail alone
all afternoon you fashion
tethered dreams
fragrant shavings
curl from the planer
the child fancies
manes and beards
for a plywood menagerie
the birds you made
feeding their young
and flying
somehow
on mahogany wings
shape engrained
already in the seed
your hands
that guide the chisel
at the lathe
fitting the brass lid
on the memory jug
blue and white crockery
shattered into shards
your scarred hands made whole
summer evenings
the glow of your cigarette
under the elms
your gaze
far down the river valley
still folded
in a trunk
the sweater I wore
the day I learned
what you had done
A PILLOW OF STARS
Pamela A. Babusci
Paul Smith
first bath
i soak and reexamine
my life
snow piling up
on the skylight
just a handful
of blossoms overhead
but this path
will lead deep into
the heart of spring
summer moonlight
pouring into calla lilies
tonight, i will sleep
on a pillow of stars
beyond the Milky Way
shuffling through
a mass of fallen leaves
I sense the light
begin to fade from
this fleeting world
again, i return
to a world of white
where i bare my soul
into the abyss of winter
with all its pureness
FROM THE BARRE
Ava C. Cipri
audition
number four pinned
on my black leotard
. . . I dance Carmen
until the room blooms red
training
practice practice practice
daily . . .
one day absent you know
three days everyone knows
rehearsal
Stravinsky’s Firebird
in studio B
I turn from myself
into a reflection
on stage
our bodies strike
poses
practiced through shin-splints
and absent meal
after rehearsal
I bathe in Epson salt
and deep below
I slumber like the carp
who needs nothing
surfacing
the body’s memory
en pointe:
thirty-two fouettees
Odile the black swan
Odette
I recognize you—
our linked arms
under a glinting moon
among the cygnets
split
Odette / Odile are one
swan
. . . torn between my role
on and off the stage
in the wings
from the graves
valkyries haunt
Gisele’s final performance
star lilies buried in hair
backstage
long-stem white roses —
in costume
caught between this life
and a life with you
the hall
empties its patrons
before me
vacancy . . .
how easy to walk off
Winners of the 2008 Tanka Splendor Awards
SINGLE TANKA
Don Baird
Collin Barber x 2
John Barlow x 2
Joe Christensen
Kathy Lippard Cobb
Jerome Cushman
Michael L. Evans x 3
Trish Fong x 2
Barry George
Gerald George
C.W. Hawes x 2
M. Kei
Joseph Kleponis
Darrell Lindsey x 2
Joanne Morcom
H. Gene Murtha
Matthew Paul
Elaine Riddell
Cheryl Rosenkrans
Trish Shields
John Soules x 2
André Surridge x 2
Eduard Tara
Frans Terryn x 2
Linda Jeannette Ward
Michael Dylan Welch
SEQUENCES
FATHERS & DAUGHTERS
Pamela A. Babusci
LOCKET
Julie Thorndyke
and
Beverley George
LONELY
Miriam Chaikin
THE DREAMER
Ann Eustace
Winners of the 2007 Tanka Splendor Awards
SINGLE TANKA
Megan Arkenberg x 2
Collin Barber x3
John Barlow x 2
Patricia Brooks
Magdalena Dale x 3
J.L. Davis x 2
Barry George
Marty Grenfell
Kirsty Karkow x 3
Joseph Kleponis
Jack Prewitt x 2
Malinda Miller
Michael McClintock x 2
Grant D. Savage x 2
Laurence Stacey x 2
Michael Dylan Welch x 3
SEQUENCES
CAROUSEL
Julie Thorndyke
DANCING TO A NEW RHYTHM
Moira Richards
ROUND FACES & NESTING DOLLS
Anya
and
Alexis Rotella
Winners of the 2006 Tanka Splendor Awards
SINGLE TANKA
Dave Bacharach
Collin Barber x 2
James Roderick Burns
Salvatore Amico M. Buttaci
Kathy Lippard Cobb x 2
Cherie Hunter Day
Amelia Fielden
Irene Golas
C.W. Hawes
M. Kei x 2
Thelma Mariano x 2
Doreen King
Philomene Kocher
Fiona Lee
Angela Leuck x 2
Darrell Lindsey
Joanne Morcom x 2
Zane Parks
Andria Plowman
Jack Prewitt x 2
Lynne Rees
Andrew Riutta x 2
Pat Tompkins
Kozue Uzawa
Linda Jeannette Ward
SEQUENCES
WEEKEND
Dawn Bruce
THE TANKA OF TANKA
Alvin Thomas Ethington
INDIA
Melisa Fauceglia
AIRPLANE TANKA
Zack Rogow
DATE-STAMP
Julie Thorndyke
Winners of the 2005 Tanka Splendor Awards
SINGLE TANKA
An'ya
Susan Antolin
Aurora Antonovic
Kathy Lippard Cobb x 2
Amitava Dasgupta
Cherie Hunter Day x 2
Melissa Dixon
Michael L. Evans
Laryalee Fraser
Barry Goodmann
Peggy Heinrich
David Lee Kirkland
Angela Leuck
Darrell Lindsey
Thelma Mariano x 2
Michael McClintock
Dorothy McLaughlin
Joanne Morcom
Norman Wm. Muise
Andria Plowman
Jack Prewitt
Carol Purington x 2
K. Ramesh x 2
Grant Savage
Dan Schwerin
Cris Staubach
Tim W. Younce
SEQUENCES
A GEISHA'S TOUCH
Guy Simser
WHITE RAILINGS
Claudia Coutu Radmore
THE BANSHEE
Roberta Beary
TO FIND A MOORING
Kirsty Karkow
TANKA OF GRIEF AND PROMISE
Salvatore Amico M. Buttaci
_____________________________________
This edition of Tanka Splendor 2005
is dedicated to the life and work of
Marianne Sasha Bluger Neily
August 28, 1945
October 29, 2005
Winners of the 2004 Tanka Splendor Awards
SINGLE TANKA
Hortensia Anderson
Pamela A. Babusci
Marjorie Buettner
Ana Cagnoni
Kathy Lippard Cobb
Peter Duppenthaler x 2
Laryalee Fraser x 2
Suzanne Finnegan x 2
Richard Goring
Wheeler Joseph Hall x 2
C. W. Hawes
Kirsty Karkow
Angela Leuck x 3
Carol MacRury x 2
Thelma Mariano x 3
Michael McClintock x 2
Allen McGill
Keith McMahen
Joanne Morcom
David Rice
Maxwell Ryan
Adelaide B. Shaw x 2
Sheila Windsor
SEQUENCES
HAND TO BREAST
Jack Prewitt
THE SPACES IN-BETWEEN
Karina Klesko
PAVEMENT ART
Tony Beyer
INTO THE DARKNESS
Mary Lou Bittle-DeLapa
ORLEANS
Jeanne Emrich
Winners of the 2003 Tanka Splendor Awards
SINGLE TANKA
Hortensia Anderson
Pamela A. Babusci
John Barlow
Sarah Birl
Marjorie A. Buettner x 3
Katryn Dougherty
Amelia Fielden
Lawrence Fitzgerald
Erin Harte
Cherie Hunter Day
Bergen Hutaff
Doris Kasson x 2
M.L. Mackie x 2
Thelma Mariano
Keith McMahen x 2
Joanne Morcom
Tracy Schlueter
Alan Spring
David Steele
George Swede
Maria Szabo
Martina Taeker
John A. Vanek
Alison Williams
Jane E. Wilson
SEQUENCES
SNOW SCENES
Grant D. Savage
POEMS OF ONE NIGHT
Lin Nulman
SCENES FROM HER DEATH
Suzanne Finnegan
Winners of the 2002 Tanka Splendor Awards
SINGLE TANKA
John Barlow
Tony Beyer
Jeanne M. Breden
Kathy Lippard Cobb
Paul Conneally
Melissa Dixon
M.A. Fielden
Suzanne Finnegan
Laura Maffei
Thelma Mariano x 2
Sean McGlinchey
Dorothy McLaughlin x 2
Keith McMahen
Sue Mill
Joanne Morcom x 2
Matt Morden
K. Ramesh
Edward J. Rielly x 2
Bruce Ross
David Steele
Linda Jeannette Ward x 2
Michael Dylan Welch x 2
Alison Williams
Jane E. Wilson x 3
SEQUENCES
TORRID RED TULIPS
Pamela A. Babusci
IN THE SHADOWS
Margaret Chula
A PLUNGE OF SKY
Marianne Bluger
Winners of the 2001 Tanka Splendor Awards
SINGLE TANKA
An’ya
Pamela A. Babusci
Jeanne M. Breden
Marjorie A. Buettner
Margaret Chula x 3
Claudia R. Coutu x 2
Dennis H. Dutton
Amelia Fielden x 2
Suzanne Finnegan
David Gloss
Kirsty Karkow
Doris Kasson
Michael Ketchek x 3
David Kirkland
Angela Leuck x 2
Thelma Mariano x 2
Laura Maffei x 2
Matt Morden
Carol Purington x 2
Bruce Ross
Grant D. Savage x 2
John Sheirer
Rodney Thompson
Michael Dylan Welch
SEQUENCES
KINDLE OF GREEN
Cherie Hunter Day
and
David Rice
SAVAGE SPRING
Marianne Bluger
Winners of the 2000 Tanka Splendor Awards
SINGLE TANKA
An'ya
John Barlow x 3
Sydney Bougy x 2
Margaret Cheasebro
Melissa Dixon
Dennis H. Dutton
Jeanne Emrich x 2
Sumiko Hamlow
Christopher Herold
Doris Kasson x 3
Larry Kimmel
Joann Klontz x 3
Thelma Mariano x 3
Dorothy McLaughlin x 2
Matt Morden x 2
Christopher Patchel
Carol Purington x 3
Edward J. Rielly
Neca Stoller
Michael Dylan Welch
Alison Williams x 2
SEQUENCES
TANKA FOR STARTING OVER
Suzanne Burns
STORING UP SONG
Cherie Hunter Day
and
David Rice
LINKED TANKA
David Kirkland
Winners of the 1999 Tanka Splendor Awards
Judge: Tom Clausen
SINGLE TANKA
Mary Lou Bittle-DeLapa x 2
Jeanne Emrich x 2
Penelope A. Greenwell x 2
Cindy Guentherman
Elizabeth Howard
Jean Jorgensen
Doris Kasson
Larry Kimmel x 3
Mari Konno x 2
Robert Kusch
Leatrice Lifshitz x 2
Barbara Mackay
Thelma Mariano
June Moreau x 3
Jean Rasey
Daniel Schwerin
Margaret Stawowy
David Steele x 2
Linda Jeannette Ward
SEQUENCES
ELEGY
Suezan Aikins
SORTING
Margaret Chula
HIS LAST JOURNEY
Joyce Sandeen Johnson
A SINGLE STAR
Jeff Witkin
and
Pamela A. Babusci
Winners of the 1998 Tanka Splendor Awards
Judge: Hatsue Kawamura
SINGLE TANKA
Pamela A. Babusci
Geri Barton
Janice M. Bostok
Michael Cecilione x 2
Tom Clausen x 2
Cherie Hunter Day
Jeanne Emrich x 3
Rafael Jesús González
Sumiko M. Hamlow
Elizabeth Howard
Joyce Sandeen Johnson x 2
Larry Kimmel
Robert Kusch
Angela Leone x 2
Edith Mize Lewis
June Moreau
Michael Nickels-Wisdom x 2
Cogn Noon
Daniel Schwerin
Linda Jeannette Ward
Jeff Witkin x 2
Aya Yuhki
SEQUENCES
SCENT OF THE SHADOWS
Fay Aoyagi
ETCHED WITH FINGERNAILS
Margaret Chula
A CHILD’S YEAR
John Stevenson
Winners of the 1997 Tanka Splendor Awards
Judge: George Swede
SINGLE TANKA
Pamela A. Babusci x 2
Marianne Bluger
Janice M. Bostok x 3
Margaret Chula x 5
Ann Cooper
Cherie Hunter Day x 2
Jeanne Emrich
Caroline Gourlay x 4
Larry Kimmel x 2
Anthony Knight
Carol Purington
Ruby Spriggs x 2
David Steele
John Stevenson
Elisabeth St Jacques x 2
Jeff Witkin X 2
SEQUENCES
REMEMBERING A FRIEND
ai li
AGAINST THE LONGED-FOR CLOUDS
Gail Sher
and
David Rice
THE GRINDING TIDES
David Rice
and
Ebba Story
TAKING LEAVE
Teresa Volz
Winners of the 1996 Tanka Splendor Awards
Judge: Leza Lowitz
SINGLE TANKA
Pamela A. Babusci
Cathy Drinkwater Better
Margaret Chula x 3
Ellen Compton
Garry Gay
Momi Kam Holifield
Jean Jorgensen
Michael Ketchek
Larry Kimmel x 2
George Knox
M.L. Harrison Mackie
Patricia Neubauer
Elizabeth Nichols
Mary O'Connor
Zane Parks
Francine Porad
George Ralph
David Rice
Edward J. Rielly
John Stevenson
Elizabeth St Jacques
Sue Stapleton Tkach
Andrew Todaro
Anne Wilson x 2
Jeff Witkin
Brad Wolthers
SEQUENCES
FOUR SEASONS
Fay Aoyagi
FOR PETER
Ellie Friedland
WINDBLOWN DREAMS
Kathleen Harris
TIMES AND SEASONS
Anna Holley
Winners of the 1995 Tanka Splendor Awards
Judge: Larry Gross
SINGLE TANKA
Sydney Bougy x 2
Margaret Chula x 2
Tom Clausen
Ellen Compton x 2
Cherie Hunter Day
Thomas D. Greer
Lorraine Ellis Harr
Keiko Imaoka x 2
Jean Jorgensen
Larry Kimmel x 2
Anthony Knight
George Knox
Joy Hewitt Mann
Dorothy McLaughlin
Robert Henry Poulin
David Rice
Charles Bernard Rodning
Helen J. Sherry
Elizabeth St Jacques
Kenneth Tanemura
Michael Dylan Welch
Jeff Witkin x 2
Helen Wolthers x 2
SEQUENCES
(untitled)
Sydney Bougy
HIGH SCHOOL CLASS REUNION
Yvonne Hardenbrook
ALL IN A GARDEN GREEN
Julia Irwin
THE TREES BLEED SWEETNESS
Carol Purington
Winners of the 1994 Tanka Splendor Awards
Judge: Geraldine C. Little
Suezan Aikins
Marianne Bluger x 2
Margaret Chula
Piet Dietze
Marje A. Dyck
Glenn Gustafson
Yvonne Hardenbrook
Jean Jorgensen
Mujeeb Yar Jung
Robert Kusch
Kenneth C. Leibman x 2
Leatrice Lifshitz
Rita Z. Mazur
Dorothy McLaughlin x 2
Micheal McNierney
Lenard D. Moore
Joanne Morcom x 2
Robert Henry Poulin
Ronan
Alexis Rotella
Helen Shaffer x 2
Brian Tasker x 2
Michael Dylan Welch
Helena Wolthers x 2
Winners of the 1993 Tanka Splendor Awards
Judge: George Ralph
Suezan Aikins
Kay F. Anderson x 3
Marianne Bluger
Naomi Y. Brown
Margaret Chula x 2
D.L. Dees
Peter Duppenthaler
Ellie Friedland x 2
Larry Gross
Yvonne Hardenbrook x 2
Christopher Herold x 2
George Knox x 2
Kenneth C. Leibman
Dorothy McLaughlin
Francine Porad
Dylan Pugh
Alexis Rotella x 3
Helen J. Sherry
David Sutter
Michael Dylan Welch x 3
Winners of the 1992 Tanka Splendor Awards
Judge: Jane Hirshfield
Suezan Aikins
Tom Clausen
Margaret Chula
Ellen Compton
Yvonne Hardenbrook
Christopher Herold
Jean Jorgensen
Marianne Kiauta
George Knox
Kenneth C. Leibman
Jerry Lightfoot
Sandra L. Martin
Dorothy McLaughlin
Sally L. Nichols
Francine Porad
Dan Pugh
Carol Purington
George Ralph x 3
Emily Romano x 2
Alexis Rotella
Joan C. Sauer
Pat Shelley
Stephen Small
Clark Strand
Lequita Vance x 2
Michael Dylan Welch
Winners of the 1991 Tanka Splendor Awards
Judge: George Swede
Suezan Aikins
Pat Andrus
Ellen Compton
L.A. Davidson
Dee Evetts
Lorraine Ellis Harr
Jean Jorgensen x 5
David E. LeCount
Geraldine C. Little
Sally L. Nichols
Francine Porad x 3
A .C. Purcell
George Ralph
David Rice
Alexis Rotella x 3
G .R. Simser
Ruby Spriggs x 2
Earle J. Stone
Brian Tasker
Helen Wolthers x 2
Winners of the 1990 Tanka Splendor Awards
Judge: Dr. Professor Sanford Goldstein
GRAND PRIZE WINNER
She comes at night,
wrapped in convulsive perfumes
and scarred by longings,
lavishing the wrong names on me
at the worst moments: my muse
Carl Brennan
Margaret R. Bennett
Penny Crosby
Edmund J. Daly
Bernard Lionel Einbond
Anna Holley x 2
Doris Heitmeyer x 2
Jean Jorgensen
Jim Kacian
David LeCount x 2
Conrad Miesen x 2
Anne Mckay
Carol Purington
Alexis Rotella x 3
Pat Shelley
Stephen D. Small
Jack Stamm x 5
Dave Sutter
George Swede x 3
HISTORY OF THE TANKA SPLENDOR AWARDS
Before beginning to publish the magazine Mirrors and books of haiku under AHA Books, I had known about waka/tanka from reading Edward Seidensticker’s 1980 translation of The Tale of Genji. The tanka in this book, set as couplets, did not impress me and I remember thinking, “no wonder this form died out.”
Finding the translations by Alfred H. Marks in the Peter Pauper Press book, Japanese Tanka, and Kenneth Rexroth’s One Hundred Poems from the Japanese, with the poems set into five lines, interested me more, but I still thought the use of the genre had ended back in the dim past of Japanese history. Earl Miner’s translations cautioned against non-Japanese attempting the form and I felt torn between a love of writing haiku and this tantalizing, but closed-to-us form. When the phenomenon of Machi Tawara burst on the scene with Salad Anniversary in 1987, I realized, finally, that the Japanese were still using the form. However the translation by Juliet Winters Carpenter, with the poems again as couplets, left me confused and disinterested.
Father Neal Henry Lawrence, a Catholic priest in Tokyo, came to my rescue by sending me a copy of Atsuo Nakagawa’s Tanka in English: In Pursuit of World Tanka which had been dedicated to Father Lawrence for his early tanka written in English. Suddenly with my eyes newly opened, I was finding tanka poems everywhere – even being written in English.
From Father Lawrence I learned to know Jack Stamm and got his translations of Salad Anniversary by Machi Tawara. Though Jack did not translate all the poems, about two-thirds of them, his five-line English versions were so much more revealing of the skill and quality of Tawara’s tanka that AHA Books distributed this book until just a few years ago when it went out of print.
The first tanka in Mirrors were from Anna Holley and in that same issue – Spring 1989 – was a review of Jane Hirshfield’s book, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi & Izumi Shikibu. Again with Hirshfield’s translations written in five lines in conventional English, writers felt they too could write tanka.
After that, most of the issues of Mirrors contained pages of tanka by either George Ralph, Pat Shelley, Carl Brennan, Edmund Daly or June Moreau. However honesty forces me to admit that often there were more pages of cinquains than tanka in the early years.
By the summer of 1990, Mirrors could bring out “The Mountain Hut” – a ten tanka sequence – by Geraldine C. Little. This was based on the example of the poet Jien, who in 1190, composed, in four hours, a 100-stanza tanka sequence on the same set of ten subjects.
In the autumn issue of Mirrors 1990, were the reviews of books containing tanka: Werner Reichhold’s Bridge of Voices and Jane Reichhold’s A Gift of Tanka.
From reading about the New Year’s Poetry Party held by the Emperor and Empress of Japan, I got the idea that the best way for all of us to share what we were writing was to hold a contest.
For that first contest there was an entry fee of $1 per poem with unlimited number of entries, but the Grand Prize was $200 and every contestant got a copy of Tanka Splendor. Dr. Sanford Goldstein of Purdue University was asked to judge and he picked Carl Brennan’s poem as the best.
The contest was imagined to be less a competition between writers, and more, to be a showcase for what a wide selection of persons were writing as tanka. Thus came the idea to publish thirty-one of the best tanka in a chapbook with the intent of showing the most splendid tanka written that year – Tanka Splendor.
As mentioned in the After Words, “The goal of the contest was not to proclaim one style or method of writing tanka as ‘best’ or the only one, but to show what is being written by whom at this time. Never can there be one perfect example of a genre for all ages. Styles come and go, fads occur and fade, and every authority has a pet principle to ride. Our needs and appreciation of the form change.”
A further explanation continues to be a goal of the awards project. “The greater goal of the contest was to encourage writers to look at what others are writing, to determine what they themselves would like to be writing, not to judge others, but to decide what rules, or limitations, or techniques, to use in the future based on what is admired or not from selections such as these. . .”
That first chapbook was printed on our early, highly developed copy machine capable of doing print runs. When, being in a rush, I discovered we needed an illustration for the cover, I hastily laid some nameless flowers plucked from the plant on the table onto the copier bed and there we were. Werner and I folded the 44 pages, collated them, bought a heavy-duty stapler and made books as fast as we could.
AHA Books then began to print more books of tanka than of haiku or renga. In 1992 came Sanford Goldstein’s book, At the Hut of the Small Mind, which, though out of print, is available online at AHApoetry.com. Geraldine C. Little’s book, More Light, Larger Vision came out in 1993 and won First Place in the Haiku Society of America’s Merit Book Awards. That same year saw Werner Reichhold’s book, Layers of Content which contained tanka and haiku. Also that year was the first hardcover book of tanka – Shining Moments by Father Lawrence.
For the second Tanka Splendor Awards the rules were changed. There was to be no Grand Prize with a cash award so the entry fee was removed. Still each of the 31 winners got a copy of Tanka Splendor. Up to ten tanka could be submitted with each one written on two index cards – one without a name for anonymous judging. That year George Swede was the judge and Vicki Celeste did the cover design.
In 1995 a category for tanka sequences was added. Each contestant could enter one sequence or three individual tanka. Larry Gross was so impressed with the sequences that he picked four winners instead of three.
Until 2000 these were the rules. Then came the idea to run the contest completely online and with that thought came the realization that with e-mail everyone entering the contest could vote. This eliminated a search for a judge, and more importantly, instead of having the contest reflect the opinion of one person, it could reflect the culmination of the judgments of the people writing tanka. Some persons worried that people with fewer tanka skills would negatively influence the judged results, but over the years, by observing who votes for what, it was found that even persons who submitted tanka indicating a lesser knowledge of the form, would still pick many of the winners picked by more experienced writers.
The entries were limited to three and they could be entered by e-mail or by post but only those with email addresses could vote. At first all the entries for judging were sent in an e-mail but soon those got too bulky and it was easier to post the entries as a website where the contestants could visit, print out, and make their choices. Then, by posting the results of the voting, each judge could compare his or her votes to those of the others. This became a huge system of feedback, not only whether the individual’s poem appealed to others, but also to see what was admired, or not, by the others.
Going online meant that Tanka Splendor could be published on the AHApoetry website instead of our having to print and collate all those booklets and mailing them around the world. Over the years the contest has had entries from 17 countries. Instead of welcoming this release from costs and mailing, a new prize was instigated – $20 worth of books for each win.
In 1995 Jane and Werner co-edited Wind Five Folded, the first English-language tanka anthology that contained selected tanka and tanka sequences from all the winners of the first five years of the contest. The biographies read like a Who’s Who of the English tanka scene. This hardcover book, with the extensive essay on tanka and tanka activities outside of Japan, became the Bible of tanka.
In the year 2000, Linda Jeannette Ward published Full Moon Tide: The Best of Tanka Splendor which was illustrated by Kay F. Anderson and Pamela A. Babusci. Linda contacted each of the judges and asked them to select three of their favorite tanka. By then two of the original judges, Geraldine C. Little and George Ralph had died, so Linda asked Margaret Chula and Larry Kimmel to take their places. Jane Reichhold was asked to pick five of the best sequences: Yvonne Hardenbrook, Anna Holley, David Rice and Ebbe Story (in a collaborative tanka sequence), John Stevenson and Suezan Aikins.
THE LAST TANKA SPLENDOR AWARDS CONTEST
This year’s Tanka Splendor Awards contest received 273 entries of single tanka and 20 sequences from a total of 117 authors which was an increase over previous years of the online version of the contest. Usually the number for the single poem entries ran about 200 – 210 and there were usually 12 – 14 sequences.
Ruth Holzer’s tanka got the most votes – 29. All single tanka getting twelve or more votes were winners. The top three sequences got the same number of votes – 19 each.
Though people could vote for up to 31 single poems and 3 sequences, a number of judges did not use all of their opportunities to express their opinion. A few mentioned that there “were too many poems to read” and a couple said the only good poems were their picks.
For the record, here are a few words about how the contest was conducted. Notices of the contest were carried online all year long, and starting in the summer various tanka outlets were asked to publicize the contest. This year there was even a notice on Facebook and AHAforum.com. Entrants could either use the form on AHApoetry.com or just send an e-mail containing the poems starting on June 1. Each submission was read and either confirmed by a reply e-mail or any problems (like missing names) was cleared with correspondence. The deadline has been the end of September for many years.
Beginning in October all the poems were copied from the e-mails, mixed up so the three poems by one author are not together, and given a number. A separate list was made of the e-mail addresses of the contestants. The original file was saved again and the names removed. There were several checks done to make certain no name or address accidentally stayed by the poem. This document was then posted to an unlinked website with the rules for voting. Judges could pick up to 31 single tanka and three sequences or less if they choose. An e-mail was then sent out with this address with instructions and the request that the votes be sent back as a reply. This insured that only contestants were voting.
After two weeks the judging was closed and this year the 72 vote-sheets were tallied. Almost every year someone tried to vote for their own poems, and got all their votes invalidated, so for tabulation a list with poem number and author was created. An advantage to this is seeing who picks ‘winning’ poems and who admires poems with fewer votes.
The results were then keyed into the online document with the authors’ names added to the winning poems. The other posted poems all remained anonymous. Winners sent back e-mails with their book prize choices and postal addresses. A couple of days go to packing up books, addressing envelopes, filling out dreaded postal forms, and hauling the many sacks of packages to the post office. Then comes a nice time – people writing that their books arrived and sending their thanks.
So, as finale to twenty years of running the contest, having the joy of reading and typesetting so many marvelous tanka, and meeting by mail so many delightful people, the Tanka Splendor Awards contest is now ended. There are no plans to continue the project. Thank you again to each and every person who has participated over the years.