Letters to LYNX

. . . Hello and Good Wishes from the sweltering Southwest. Hope fully we will not be burned out before the monsoon begins. To keep heart and soul together I submit the poems below for your consideration for Lynx. Every issue is a must-read for me. Enjoyment and learning are the results of reading your fine production. Thanks. David Bachelor

. . . Thanks for the reminder! I've been stressing out, happy and very nervous at the same time. I'm getting ready to go to Japan for the WHF2002. I've not been to Japan before. I'll be traveling to and from the USA, and rooming at hotels with another poet/artist, Deborah Russell, who writes on WHC's mailing list. I don't know how many people are going to the (several) events. There are two sightseeing options (Kamakura and Kyoto), and on September 20, 21, 22 is the conference in Akita.

I've lost summer to WHC Review and the computer. The WHF2002 trip will be from September 6-27...without my computer. I hope to enjoy scenery, although I don't think it's going to be a time of relaxation, exactly, though. Debi Bender

. . . Following are a four ghazals to consider for Lynx. I find ghazals very interesting and do my best to write as close to its traditional form as I am able. The name I use in the signature couplet is an old nickname of mine, and a long story to explain. But, I use it with precise consistency. Thank you for considering these works. Erin A. Thomas

Francine Porad, sends as her signature, the invitation for you to check out this site: http://www.womenpainters.com/BIO/PORAD/Porad.html

In the last issue of Lynx, in a there was a review of the book mother nature’s heat / a desert snake by Marlene Mountain and Jean Jorgensen to which the following two letters responded.

"Marlene Mountain, with her demands that all the renga she participates in be done in her style and format - one-liners in all lower case letters on current events and personal commentary, and her righteous anger that out-leaps almost any linkage, puts quite a burden on her partners to retain their individuality and personal outlook."

jane i'm wondering about this comment and how you arrived at it. have you ask my friends if they have these feelings? i don't demand that people write with no caps. a closer look at the book will show that jeanne uses caps. and on your website you'll see that francine and kris do also. my first poems back in '63 on a portable typewriter were without caps and i guess it's something i never outgrew. i liked the idea that all the letters had equal value. perhaps you had similar feelings when you were using all caps in some of your writing.

over the years i've approached content in haiku in many ways. it's true that one-line has had a big hold on me. i really do love the challenge of it. the way it looks and all--what i see as a visual integrity. no one has asked that we don't write in one-line. some people have even thanked me for introducing them to one-line. since there are plenty of those who write in other lines no one is limited by writing in one-line with me. i've actually noticed that several write one-line with others too.

i've always worried about what i write and paint. of late i've worried i write too much about daylilies. i've also been trying to get beyond this worry stage. perhaps my writing is a burden to read--it often is for me.

in the long run each of us writes what moves us. we don't have to agree with the sentiments of each other in the pieces--that works both ways. 'tis my belief my writing mates have lots of individuality and personal outlook and that it all shines through. and as far i can tell we write with each other because we like doing so. marlene 5/31

Dear Jane & Werner, Thank you for reviewing Marlene & Jeanne's book of linked haiku. Having collaborated with Marlene on similar linked poems since 1994, I do want to emphasize that Marlene has never demanded to me that we stick to a one-line format and use only lower-case letters. In our first linked poem ("One Eight Hundred"), which you published in Mirrors, Winter 1995, a few of my links were much too long to be considered one-liners. I suppose a case could be made that these actually were one-liners, but some of them took up three inches of space on the page.

In "One Eight Hundred," I used capital letters in three links, and Marlene used all capital letters and numbers in one of her links. I also capitalized the title of the poem, which Marlene did not question one way or the other. In our third linked poem ("A Child is Born"), I used capital letters once and so did she. Again, I capitalized the title, too. Later, in "neglected" (written in 1999-2000), I used capital letters in one link. With every use of capital letters, there was a specific reason for us to violate the unspoken rule of using lower-case. It was obvious to me that Marlene preferred writing in lower case, and for consistency's sake, I usually but not always did the same. In the Lynx review, the reference to Marlene's renga style makes it appear that she is like a temperamental actor who will only work when everything on the set is to his/her liking (including the removal of all blue M&M's from the candy dish). I can only speak about my own eight years of writing with Marlene, but I have found her to be a gentle, kind, and wonderful collaborator. We have not had one argument about anything. Of course, we have differences of opinion about a number of topics addressed in each other's links, but to me this makes the collaboration even stronger.

Although the following criticism was not voiced in the Lynx review, some other critics have questioned whether Marlene even writes "haiku" anymore, or if it's all just "politiku" or "femku." There have also been complaints that Marlene's anger permeates her poems. If these critics read *mother nature's heat / a desert snake* or any of the *rens* books, they should realize she still has the power to write powerful haiku of anyone's definition, and if the critics haven't lost their own sense of humor, they will realize Marlene hasn't lost hers, either. Lastly, I would like to state that there have been only occasional times in the past eight years that I have been unable to see a link between what I have written and Marlene's response. These very well may have been instances of out-leaping linkage, but also I may just not have been able to see the link that Marlene made. Sometimes I wonder what Marlene thinks about my own method of linking. :)

I will be accepting haiku and tanka for my "tea anthology" until October 31st, 2002. Poems may be previously published (but must include publication info). For each poem accepted, contributors will be entitled to one free copy of the anthology plus additional copies at 40% discount.

This project was inspired by the tea exhibits put on this year by the Japanese and Chinese Gardens of the Montreal Botanical Gardens. A very talented photographer, Lynn Stervinou, took some beautiful photographs of the exhibit. These, along with the tea poems that I have received thus far and others still to come, promise to make for an exceptional book, which will be published by PowerBooks for body, mind and spirit. Send to Submissions. Angela Leuck

The Japan Tanka Poets' Association will be sponsoring the 4th International tanka convention in Bangkok, Thailand next November. For the event there will be an international contest for tanka in English and Japanese. There is no fee to enter, but if the contributor wants the resulting anthology of the submitted poems, one must pay US$10 by cash or international postal money order. We do not accept any bank check. The deadline is the end of April, 2003. Up to three tanka are welcome. Send

money and tanka poems to the office of the Kajin Club in Tokyo.

The Japan Tanka Poets' Society (Nihon Kajin Club) Shuei Bldg.

2F, 1-12-5 Higashi-gotanda,
Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo
141-0022 Japan Fax:03-3280-3249

e-mail:kajinclub@k.email.ne.jp

The rest of the project will be announced in the next issue of The Tanka Journal. Hatsue Kawamura

1. Thirty-one tanka and three tanka sequences will be awarded publication in Tanka Splendor 2002 and for each winning entry the author will receive a $20. gift certificate for books from AHA Books.

3. Each author may submit either a group of up to three (3) unpublished tanka or one tanka sequence of any length. All material must be original and not under consideration elsewhere.

5. Individual tanka should be in English, written in five lines containing 31 or less syllables, and without titles.

6. The tanka sequence should consist of a title with three or more tanka, each of which contains 31 or less syllables written in five lines.

7. Send your entry either by using the form below or sending an e-mail to ahabooks@mcn.org with "TSentry" in the subject line. Entries may also be sent by regular post. These will be entered in the contest but the author will be unable to take part in the judging. Winners not online will notified by mail. Send mail entries, typed on sheets of paper to:

8. This year the judging will be done only by the persons who have entered the contest. All valid entries will be given a number and posted without names here on the AHApoetry.com site. Each contestant will receive an e-mail announcement when the contest is open for judging. Then by e-mail the contestants are invited to declare their choices for the best single tanka and best sequence. After tabulating these votes the 31 single tanka and three sequences which receive the most votes will be published as Tanka Splendor 2002 as an AHA Books Online and winners will be notified with the gift certificates.

Back editions of Tanka Splendor for the years 92, 95, 97, 98 and 99 are still available from AHA Books for $6.00 each postpaid. Send a check by post to AHA Books, pob 1250, Gualala, CA.


TABLE OF CONTENTS XVII:3 October, 2002



	LETTERS from: David Bachelor, Debi Bender, Francine Porad, Marlene Mountain, Carlos Colón CONTESTS AND COLLECTIONS: Call for Submissions To A Tea Anthology The Japan Tanka Poets' Association contest for the 4th International Tanka Convention in Bangkok, Thailand TANKA SPLENDOR deadline is September 30th. Act now!	LETTERS to LYNX . . . Hello and Good Wishes from the sweltering Southwest. Hope fully we will not be burned out before the monsoon begins. To keep heart and soul together I submit the poems below for your consideration for Lynx. Every issue is a must-read for me. Enjoyment and learning are the results of reading your fine production. Thanks. David Bachelor . . . Thanks for the reminder! I've been stressing out, happy and very nervous at the same time. I'm getting ready to go to Japan for the WHF2002. I've not been to Japan before. I'll be traveling to and from the USA, and rooming at hotels with another poet/artist, Deborah Russell, who writes on WHC's mailing list. I don't know how many people are going to the (several) events. There are two sightseeing options (Kamakura and Kyoto), and on September 20, 21, 22 is the conference in Akita. I've lost summer to WHC Review and the computer. The WHF2002 trip will be from September 6-27...without my computer. I hope to enjoy scenery, although I don't think it's going to be a time of relaxation, exactly, though. Debi Bender . . . Following are a four ghazals to consider for Lynx. I find ghazals very interesting and do my best to write as close to its traditional form as I am able. The name I use in the signature couplet is an old nickname of mine, and a long story to explain. But, I use it with precise consistency. Thank you for considering these works. Erin A. Thomas Francine Porad, sends as her signature, the invitation for you to check out this site: http://www.womenpainters.com/BIO/PORAD/Porad.html In the last issue of Lynx, in a there was a review of the book mother nature’s heat / a desert snake by Marlene Mountain and Jean Jorgensen to which the following two letters responded. Marlene Mountain's letter begins by quoting from the review: "Marlene Mountain, with her demands that all the renga she participates in be done in her style and format - one-liners in all lower case letters on current events and personal commentary, and her righteous anger that out-leaps almost any linkage, puts quite a burden on her partners to retain their individuality and personal outlook." jane i'm wondering about this comment and how you arrived at it. have you ask my friends if they have these feelings? i don't demand that people write with no caps. a closer look at the book will show that jeanne uses caps. and on your website you'll see that francine and kris do also. my first poems back in '63 on a portable typewriter were without caps and i guess it's something i never outgrew. i liked the idea that all the letters had equal value. perhaps you had similar feelings when you were using all caps in some of your writing. over the years i've approached content in haiku in many ways. it's true that one-line has had a big hold on me. i really do love the challenge of it. the way it looks and all--what i see as a visual integrity. no one has asked that we don't write in one-line. some people have even thanked me for introducing them to one-line. since there are plenty of those who write in other lines no one is limited by writing in one-line with me. i've actually noticed that several write one-line with others too. i've always worried about what i write and paint. of late i've worried i write too much about daylilies. i've also been trying to get beyond this worry stage. perhaps my writing is a burden to read--it often is for me. in the long run each of us writes what moves us. we don't have to agree with the sentiments of each other in the pieces--that works both ways. 'tis my belief my writing mates have lots of individuality and personal outlook and that it all shines through. and as far i can tell we write with each other because we like doing so. marlene 5/31 Dear Jane & Werner, Thank you for reviewing Marlene & Jeanne's book of linked haiku. Having collaborated with Marlene on similar linked poems since 1994, I do want to emphasize that Marlene has never demanded to me that we stick to a one-line format and use only lower-case letters. In our first linked poem ("One Eight Hundred"), which you published in Mirrors, Winter 1995, a few of my links were much too long to be considered one-liners. I suppose a case could be made that these actually were one-liners, but some of them took up three inches of space on the page. In "One Eight Hundred," I used capital letters in three links, and Marlene used all capital letters and numbers in one of her links. I also capitalized the title of the poem, which Marlene did not question one way or the other. In our third linked poem ("A Child is Born"), I used capital letters once and so did she. Again, I capitalized the title, too. Later, in "neglected" (written in 1999-2000), I used capital letters in one link. With every use of capital letters, there was a specific reason for us to violate the unspoken rule of using lower-case. It was obvious to me that Marlene preferred writing in lower case, and for consistency's sake, I usually but not always did the same. In the Lynx review, the reference to Marlene's renga style makes it appear that she is like a temperamental actor who will only work when everything on the set is to his/her liking (including the removal of all blue M&M's from the candy dish). I can only speak about my own eight years of writing with Marlene, but I have found her to be a gentle, kind, and wonderful collaborator. We have not had one argument about anything. Of course, we have differences of opinion about a number of topics addressed in each other's links, but to me this makes the collaboration even stronger. Although the following criticism was not voiced in the Lynx review, some other critics have questioned whether Marlene even writes "haiku" anymore, or if it's all just "politiku" or "femku." There have also been complaints that Marlene's anger permeates her poems. If these critics read mother nature's heat / a desert snake or any of the rens books, they should realize she still has the power to write powerful haiku of anyone's definition, and if the critics haven't lost their own sense of humor, they will realize Marlene hasn't lost hers, either. Lastly, I would like to state that there have been only occasional times in the past eight years that I have been unable to see a link between what I have written and Marlene's response. These very well may have been instances of out-leaping linkage, but also I may just not have been able to see the link that Marlene made. Sometimes I wonder what Marlene thinks about my own method of linking. :) Thank you, Jane and Werner, for "listening." Peace, Carlos COLLECTIONS Call for Submissions -Tea Anthology I will be accepting haiku and tanka for my "tea anthology" until October 31st, 2002. Poems may be previously published (but must include publication info). For each poem accepted, contributors will be entitled to one free copy of the anthology plus additional copies at 40% discount. This project was inspired by the tea exhibits put on this year by the Japanese and Chinese Gardens of the Montreal Botanical Gardens. A very talented photographer, Lynn Stervinou, took some beautiful photographs of the exhibit. These, along with the tea poems that I have received thus far and others still to come, promise to make for an exceptional book, which will be published by PowerBooks for body, mind and spirit. Send to Submissions. Angela Leuck CONTESTS The Japan Tanka Poets' Association will be sponsoring the 4th International tanka convention in Bangkok, Thailand next November. For the event there will be an international contest for tanka in English and Japanese. There is no fee to enter, but if the contributor wants the resulting anthology of the submitted poems, one must pay US$10 by cash or international postal money order. We do not accept any bank check. The deadline is the end of April, 2003. Up to three tanka are welcome. Send money and tanka poems to the office of the Kajin Club in Tokyo. The Japan Tanka Poets' Society (Nihon Kajin Club) Shuei Bldg. 2F, 1-12-5 Higashi-gotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141-0022 Japan Fax:03-3280-3249 e-mail:kajinclub@k.email.ne.jp The rest of the project will be announced in the next issue of The Tanka Journal. Hatsue Kawamura THIRTEENTH INTERNATIONAL TANKA SPLENDOR AWARD 2002 Sponsored by AHA Books 1. Thirty-one tanka and three tanka sequences will be awarded publication in *Tanka Splendor 2002* and for each winning entry the author will receive a $20. gift certificate for books from AHA Books. 2. Deadline: Midnight September 30, 2002. 3. Each author may submit either a group of up to three (3) unpublished tanka or one tanka sequence of any length. All material must be original and not under consideration elsewhere. 4. There is no entry fee. 5. Individual tanka should be in English, written in five lines containing 31 or less syllables, and without titles. 6. The tanka sequence should consist of a title with three or more tanka, each of which contains 31 or less syllables written in five lines. 7. Send your entry either by using the form below or sending an e-mail to ahabooks@mcn.org with "TSentry" in the subject line. Entries may also be sent by regular post. These will be entered in the contest but the author will be unable to take part in the judging. Winners not online will notified by mail. Send mail entries, typed on sheets of paper to: TS2002 Contest pob 767 / 1250 Gualala, CA 95445 8. This year the judging will be done only by the persons who have entered the contest. All valid entries will be given a number and posted without names here on the AHApoetry.com site. Each contestant will receive an e-mail announcement when the contest is open for judging. Then by e-mail the contestants are invited to declare their choices for the best single tanka and best sequence. After tabulating these votes the 31 single tanka and three sequences which receive the most votes will be published as Tanka Splendor 2002 as an AHA Books Online and winners will be notified with the gift certificates. 9. Rights return to authors upon publication. Entries cannot be returned. Send your tanka entries to the Tanka Splendor Awards Contest with this form. If this form fails to function, you can send a regular e-mail to ahabooks@mcn.org with "TSentry" in the subject line. Read the winning entries in Tanka Splendor 2000. Or the latest ones in Tanka Splendor 2001. Back editions of Tanka Splendor for the years 92, 95, 97, 98 and 99 are still available from AHA Books for $6.00 each postpaid. Send a check by post to AHA Books, pob 1250, Gualala, CA.



	How to submit Who we are Back issues: XVII-2 June, 2002 XVII-1 February, 2002 XVI-3 October, 2001 XVI:2 June, 2001 XVI:1 February, 2001 XV:3 October, 2000 XV:2 June, 2000

LETTERS to LYNX