Tanka Society of America


Welcome to the Tanka Society of America website. Here you can learn more about the society, its activities, and membership benefits. You can also learn more about our journal, Ribbons, our annual tanka contest, and our membership anthologies. If you’re not already a member, please read the Top-Five Benefits of TSA Membership and JOIN OR RENEW TODAY.
 

Tanka poetry has a history of more than 1,300 years in Japan and 100 years in English. Originally written in the Japanese Imperial court, when it was known as waka, tanka has grown to be a worldwide genre of poetry written in English on a variety of topics, usually in five lines. Join fellow members of the Tanka Society of America, founded in 2000, in discovering, sharing, studying, preserving, and appreciating this vibrant genre of English-language poetry.

 

Please also visit our Facebook page.

TSA News

  • Young Adults Tanka Group The Tanka Society of America is forming a group of young adults (under 40) who share an interest in tanka. The group will workshop poems, learn from guest speakers, and ...
    Posted Jun 4, 2021, 4:24 PM by Michael Dylan Welch
  • New Ribbons Editor The Tanka Society of America is pleased to announce that Susan Weaver is now our new editor for Ribbons. We are grateful to Christine L. Villa, who has served in ...
    Posted Apr 22, 2021, 12:44 AM by Michael Dylan Welch
  • 2021 TSA Members’ Anthology to Be Edited by Michael H. Lester The Tanka Society of America is honored to announce that Michael H. Lester will serve as editor for the 2021 TSA members’ anthology. The submission window for entry is June ...
    Posted Feb 6, 2021, 5:21 PM by Michael Dylan Welch
  • 2021 Goldstein Contest to Be Free, and Judges Announced The Tanka Society of America is pleased to announce that the judges for the 2021 Sanford Goldstein International Tanka Contest will be Autumn Noelle Hall and Don Miller. In addition ...
    Posted Feb 3, 2021, 2:09 PM by Michael Dylan Welch
  • Dance into the World: 2020 TSA Members' Anthology Now Published The Tanka Society of America is pleased to announce its 2020 members’ anthology, Dance into the World, edited by Michael Dylan Welch in celebration of the society’s 20th anniversary ...
    Posted Dec 2, 2020, 1:30 PM by Michael Dylan Welch
  • TSA 20th Anniversary Taiga Showcase To help celebrate the Tanka Society of America’s twentieth anniversary in 2020, Susan Burch solicited and compiled “taiga” (haiga featuring tanka) to display on the society’s Facebook page ...
    Posted Sep 23, 2020, 4:12 PM by Michael Dylan Welch
  • 2020 Sanford Goldstein International Tanka Contest Results Congratulations to the winners of the 2020 Sanford Goldstein International Tanka Contest, judged by Margaret Dornaus and Claire Everett. Results and commentary are now live, with the top three poems ...
    Posted Aug 11, 2020, 12:34 AM by Michael Dylan Welch
  • 2020 TSA Membership Anthology Members, we need your tanka! The Tanka Society of America is pleased to announce that its 20th anniversary members’ anthology will be edited by TSA founder and president, Michael Dylan ...
    Posted Jul 5, 2020, 1:19 PM by Michael Dylan Welch
  • Announcing the 2020 Goldstein Tanka Contest The Tanka Society of America is pleased to announce the 2020 Sanford Goldstein International Tanka Contest. In honor of the society’s 20th anniversary, the contest is FREE to enter ...
    Posted Mar 28, 2020, 12:01 AM by Michael Dylan Welch
  • Tanka Haiga Invitation In celebration of the Tanka Society of America’s 20th anniversary and in honor of National Poetry Month, we have decided to run a special “Tanka Haiga” feature across the ...
    Posted Jul 5, 2020, 1:51 PM by Michael Dylan Welch
Showing posts 1 - 10 of 81. View more »

 

2020 Contest Winners

          Judged by Margaret Dornaus and Claire Everett

 

 

          First Place
 
              plague-year parsnips
              browned in butter—
              the flavor
              of my mother’s victory garden
              in another sort of war

                    Jenny Ward Angyal
 
 
          Second Place

 

              another indigo evening

              with windows wide open

              to smell the rain

              what is the color

              of loneliness?


                    Pamela A. Babusci

 

 

          Honorable Mention

 

              watercolor poppies

              blowing across the field . . .

              why

              is it so hard

              to learn from history


                    Rebecca Drouilhet



           Read more TSA Contest winners.