ACTIVITIES

30th anniversary of Nara-Canberra sister city
45th anniversary of Osaka-Melbourne sister city

2023 marks the 30th anniversary of the sister city relationship between Nara and Canberra.It also marks the 45th anniversary of the sister city relationship between Osaka and Melbourne.

– Call for Tanka and TANKA works –
Subject: nature
Recruitment period:  2023 10thJan 〜10th May  
Submission: Up to 3 poems per person

Click here to submit your work

JAPANESE/ENGLISH

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So far we have organised some bilingual activities, such as ‘Tanka Reading Evening,’ with our wishes to share the interest and enjoyment between Australian and Japanese people. Now on we would like to open up to every part of the world by sending out this Journal widely.

18 05 2010

‘TANKA & TANKA’ – Nara Canberra Tanka Symposium

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This symposium was held in the Nara Onjo-kan in the sister-cities week during the 1300th Year Anniversary of Nara Capital. At this Symposium we discussed the difficulties that English translators would face at the work of translating tanka. There was a session of translating competition of an English tanka into Japanese, which was very well participated and appreciated from the floor.

  • Tanka readings in Japanese and English: by Noriko Tanaka, Amelia Fielden and Saeko Ogi
  • Symposium panellists: Nobuyuki Sakamoto and Shunichi Shibōta
  • Shakuhachi player: Taro Miura

28 11 2010

Poetry Performances and Book Launches

at Bogong Theatre, Canberra

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The book launches officially opened by Mr K. Miyakawa, Cultural Attaché from the Embassy of Japan. The three tanka collections were launched by B George, editor of the bi-annual publication, ‘Eucalypt, a Tanka Journal.’

  • ‘Breast Clouds,’ a tanka collection by Noriko Tanaka with English translations by
  • Amelia Fielden and Saeko Ogi. The colletion was recently given the third Chūjō Fumiko Award. Readings in two languages from the collection by Noriko and Amelia with Shakuhachi music played by R Summerson.
  • ‘Weaver Birds,’ a bilingual collaboration of responsive tanka by Saeko Ogi and Amelia Fielden, each composing in her first language and translating the other’s work as well. Saeko and Amelia read in Japanese and English the November chapter of this collection with accompaniment by M McKenzie on the recorder.
  • ‘Light on Water,’ Amelia Fielden’s sixth collection of English tanka. Kathy Kituai and David Terelinck joined in reading Amelia’s duet tanka with French poet Giselle Maya from this collection.

11 08 2011

A Commemoration of the Life and Work of Kawano Yuko

 

This international literary event was held at the Asia Bookroom in Canberra.

One year after the death of high profile tanka poet Kawano Yuko, Amelia Fielden and Saeko Ogi introduced their recent books of translation of her poetry, ‘The Time of This World: 100 Tanka from 13 Collections by Kawano Yuko’ and ‘The Maternal Line.’ Leading Tokyo performance poet Mariko Kitakubo joined Saeko and Amelia for the readings of Kawano’s tanka both in the original and English translation. R Summerson Shakuhachi musician gave a colour to the event.

 

13 11 2011

Japan Australia Tanka Reading Concert – Return to Melody

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This concert was held at the Osaka International Exchange Centre, supported by Chinai Takeo the famed left-handed pianist and the reciters of the traditional Reizen-style Tanka Group.

  • The tanka readings from their recent published collection by the Moon Forest Armada poets and the English translations were also read, with the improvised performance by Takeo Chinai.
  • The performance of the Reizen-style reciters showcased the Japanese traditional Tanka-reading.
  • The tanka readings from ‘Words Flower,’ the second responsive tanka collection by Amelia Fielden and Saeko Ogi in English and Japanese.

09 11 2012

Evening of International Tanka

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A bilingual evening of international Tanka poetry was held at Manning Clark House in Canberra.

  • Noriko Tanaka read her Tanka from ‘Doorway to the Sky’ and ‘Breast Clouds,’ her first and second collections of Tanka in Japanese. Amelia Fielden read her translations of the Tanka.
  • Amelia Fielden and Saeko Ogi read their Tanka from ‘Words Flower,’ their second responsive Tanka collections in the two languauges.
  • R Summerson on the Shakuhachi and Moko Eade on the Koto played duet pieces.

19 05 2013

Japan-Australia Collaborative Tanka Reading Concert
– TANKA & TANKA,

celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Nara/Canberra Sister-City

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At 2 o o’clock this concert was held at the On-jo Kan in Nara, supported by the Nara Municipal Government and the Australian Embassy.

We have selected 50 tanka from the submissions by a numerous Japanese poets not only from Nara but from America or Brazil on the theme of music, with the aim of publishing an anthology, ‘Music of the Heart,’ together with 50 reciprocal tanka from the Australian side.

  • This afternoon 18 Japanese poets participated in reading their selected tanka from the anthology. Kazuho Kawashima read the English version translated by Amelia Fielden.
  • Amelia Fielden and Saeko Ogi read 25 Australian tanka from the anthology in English and Japanese.
  • Takeo Chinai played the left-handed piano pieces and also improvised music.

 

05 03 2014

Tanka Poetry Evening

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This evening it was featured the launch of two new anthologies and bilingual readings from ‘The Music of the Heart,’ a collaborative anthology of Australian and Japanese poets at Manning Clark House in Canberra.

  • The Launch of ‘100 Tanka by 100 Poets from Australian and New Zealand’ by Dr Carol Hayes.
  • The Launch of ‘Tanka to Eat,’ an introduction to contemporary Japanese tanka on the theme of food selected and critiqued by Noriko Tanaka. This book is an English translation by Amelia Fielden.
  • Readings of tanka in Japanese from this anthology by Noriko and her friends from Japan, spontaneously showing the English translations on the screen.
  • Music on the Shakuhachi by R Summerson and on the Koto by Moko Eade.