XVI:1  February 2001

 LETTERS from:
John Barlow, 
Marc Thompson , Carol Purington, Richard Stevenson, Hans Reddingius, The Netherlands.  
Francine Porad 

Seems like somewhere along the line I missed the deadline for the June issue. I'll have to admit, I was reluctant to send anything to an on-line journal. I really like having hard copy to hold in my hand, and printouts just aren't the same. On the other hand, the June issue is nicely laid out and easy to read, and (best of all) it's still Lynx! Marc Thompson 

Dear Jane, First, before I forget again, congratulations and thank you for the wonderful article in a recent Frogpond on "Haiku Techniques" - enlightening, challenging, demystifying, great! It ought to be almost mandatory reading for anyone who submits a ku to a serious magazine. Second, for me Christmas came early this year with the arrival of my AHA Books. [Her prizes for winning tanka in TANKA SPLENDOR 2000] They are beautiful, and I want to read them all at the same time, and unfortunately other people keep giving me books that I should read first. What pleasurable pain! Third, here is a submission of tanrenga written several years ago by Ellen Compton and me, and then forgotten in the lower reaches of our computers. For us, at least, they have aged well, so I now place them on your editorial desk. Carol Purington

Can I interest you in a few linked tanka? The piece is part of a series I've been writing set in Maiduguri, Nigeria, circa 1980. I lived there and taught composition, poetry, and drama at Advanced Teacher's College as a WUSC ( World University Service of Canada ) recruit twenty years ago and have since published three collections of lyric and narrative poetry on my experiences, Driving Offensively (Sono Nis Press, 1985), Horizontal Hotel: A Nigerian Odyssey (TSAR Publications, 1989), and Flying Coffins (Ekstasis Editions, 1994) in addition to another nine books. I currently teach Canadian Literature, Creative Writing and Business Communication for Lethbridge Community College and live in southern Alberta, Canada. My newest book, Live Evil is just now out; I'm currently trying to market a CD of original jazz and poetry with my troupe "Naked Ear" that goes with it. Other senryu, tanka, and haiku have recently appeared in Haiku Wall, Haiku Moment, American Tanka, Stirring, Poetry In The Light, Haiku Canada Newsletter, and elsewhere. Richard Stevenson 

I am not much of a tanka or haibun man. I did write some renga-like suites. As an example, I send a translation of one of the shortest of these. I grew up, as a child, in Indonesia, which at that time was called the Dutch East Indies, and which, was called 'India' for short. What is now called 'India' we used to call 'British India'. I have used the plural 'the Indies' to avoid misunderstanding. During the war, I experienced a few unpleasant aspects of Japanese culture and in 1946, I and my family went to Holland. I never went back to Indonesia until 1992; then, my wife, Pauline, went to a travel agency and bought a trip through Sumatra, Java, and Bali that we enjoyed very much. Then I wrote my "Indonesian Suite", which I now translated into English with the help of Alvaro Cardona-Hine, a Zen poet living in New Mexico. Hans Reddinghius, The Netherlands.

Thanks so much for the kind review of The Perfect Worry-Stone. One small correction if you have the time. There were six tanka in the collection, leaving five in addition to the one you quoted. All's well here - still writing up a storm with Marlene Mountain & Kris Kondo. Francine Porad 

How to submit

Who we are

Back issues:
XV:2 June, 2000
XV:3 October, 2000

Next Lynx is scheduled for June, 2001.
Deadline is May1, 2001.