The Floating Bridge: Tanka Poems in English

This seminar will explore the significance of classical tanka poetry in the context of Japanese culture and will consider the content and background of The Floating Bridge.

 

The first part of the programme will focus on the 8th Imperial Anthology, Shin Kokin Wakashu (New Collection of Japanese Poems Ancient and Modern), the compilation of which was celebrated in 1205. It will also examine the far-reaching influence tanka poetry has exerted on the aesthetics of No theatre, tea ceremony and Japanese ceramic art, on haiku poetry of the 17th century, and on British and American Imagist poets of the early 20th century.

 

The author will then introduce The Floating Bridge, a collection of 70 short poems which he composed in Britain and other parts of Europe over the past few years, following the forms and aesthetic of traditional Japanese tanka poetry, which has an unbroken history of more than 1,300 years. It also contains new translations of 21 classical tanka which are at least 800 years old.

 

The Floating Bridge: Tanka Poems in English will be available on the day at a special offer price of £5 (normally £6.99).

 

This seminar is supported by Japan Airlines.

 

Contributor

Dr Hisashi Nakamura has been writing poetry from an early age and at the age of 22 he won a national poetry competition in Japan. He settled in York in 1988 and obtained a PhD (Peace Studies) from Bradford University. In 2004 he established the Anglo-Japanese Tanka Society, which now has members in 17 countries. He works at York St John University where he has initiated tanka projects for art students to help them to produce works inspired by tanka poetry. Their works have been exhibited in London and at Hida Takayama Museum of Art in Japan. He is also active as a Research Fellow of Meiji University Institute for Disarmament and Peace Studies in Tokyo.