Lulu Marketplace

“People are tweeting tanka (and haiku and micropoetry) in great numbers on Twitter. ... a surprising amount is good. Further, because each poet has ‘followers’ who often ‘retweet’ items they like, a good poem will be seen far beyond the poet’s personal circle. As a result, each tanka poet has a readership larger than many tanka journals. The thing that strikes me most about these poets is how they use tanka not as literature, but as communication. They talk to friends and strangers online and use tanka to illustrate something they have seen or experienced. They often accompany their tanka with images, links, and other items that provide context and amplify their conversation. Because their primary goal is to express themselves as effectively as possible, they have written eloquent, natural language poetry.” —M. Kei, Editor