This collection of linked tanka between two Australian and two American poets reminds us how exciting it is to colour outside the lines. Unexpected responses enliven the series as poets from different hemispheres move through the four seasons. For example, Fielden’s final lines in ‘Hope Springs Eternal’, ‘to swim without a wet suit / weightless meditation’, is countered with Whitman’s startling ‘a gap opens…rip tide/time to renew marriage vows’. In ‘Sunlight Between Dark Pools’, Jacobson’s charming ‘Bogong moth/fluttering on the floor/beside me… / we move together / when the music starts’, is rejoined by Nakano’s humorous ‘quite a plain girl / wearing muted colours / they dance all night / as I watch, wondering / what’s she got that I haven’t?’ Playful, revelatory, hopeful and nostalgic, the tanka in Colouring In remind us of what it is like to be human. - Margaret Chula, President, Tanka Society of America
Colouring In is a collection of responsive tanka that comes alive as we journey through the seasons in the hands of four accomplished poets: two from Australia, Amelia Fielden and Gerry Jacobson; and two from the USA, Genie Nakano and Neal Whitman. Their four voices remain distinct while these poets link and shift, exploring spring, summer, autumn and winter in separate chapters. Each season is given a colour, following the Japanese tradition, as explained by Sonja Arntzen in her interesting introduction. This collection, composed by international friends writing together, is so much more than a series of responsive tanka on a theme. Reading through it, we can share both glimpses of the authors’ lives, and the rhythms of their changing inner and outer landscapes. They daub from a palette of unfolding emotions and experiences to paint superbly crafted and memorable canvases for us to enjoy. - Marilyn Humbert, leader of the Bottlebrush Tanka Group, Australia
