In this episode, Claire chats to poet Kala Ramesh about her collection The Forest I Know published by Harper Collins.
Tanka, a 1300-year-old, five-line lyrical form of poetry from Japan, was originally called 'waka', which translates as 'short song'. The Forest I Know, Kala Ramesh's first book in this genre, consists mainly of tanka, tanka prose and tanka doha. With stunningly bold and beautiful poems encompassing every facet of our day-to-day living, this book is at once ancient and modern, enduring and unforgettable - and is sure to resonate with the reader.
flight passengers
swarm around
the conveyor belt
ah! the freedom to walk away
without baggage
A widely published & celebrated artist, author & teacher, Kala Ramesh is known internationally for her Japanese-style poetry.
Kala is the founder and director of Triveni Haikai India, the founder and managing Editor of haikuKATHAJournal, and an external faculty member of Symbiosis International University Pune, for a 60-hour haikai course from 2012 to 2021 — a first in India! A mentor at Katha’s Creative Writer’s Workshop from 2014 to 2018. To bring haiku into everyday spaces, she has organised eight Haikai Utsavs and initiated several projects, notably haikuWALL, haikuDHYANA and haikuSTAGE. She created the ‘Rasika’ form, an eight-verse renku (collaborative linked verses) fashioned after Matsuo Basho’s shofu-style of renku.
Kala judged the Haiku Poets of Northern California Haibun Contest (2021); the HPNC Haiku Contest (2023); and the British Haiku Society’s Haibun Contest (2024) and was the final judge of the Sable Books Haiku Contest for Women Book Award (2021). Kala was a co-editor of Tanka Take Five, an international tanka anthology in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Kala was the haiku editor at Under the Basho from 2008 to 2023 and Youth Corner editor at Cattails from 2014 to 2021. She has been a speaker at several international haiku conferences and many Indian literature festivals including the Jaipur Literature Festival.
She has authored a tanka e-chapbook » Unseen Arc (Snapshot Press 2017, UK) and three print books: » Haiku and the Companion Activity Book (Katha Books 2010, reprint 2017, New Delhi) and » Beyond the Horizon Beyond - Haiku & Haibun, a finalist at the Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize 2019 and received a certificate for ‘excellent contribution to literature’ (Vishwakarma Publication 2017, Pune).
Kala Ramesh’s awards include:
~ Gene Murtha Senryu Contest: July 2024 3rd Place Tie
~ Touchstone Nominations: Prune Juice (2024), Acorn (2022)
~ WE Trailblazer Poet Award, from Women Empowered India (2020)
~ Second Place: Porad Haiku Award USA (2020)
~ Winner: Akita International Haiku Contest Japan (2020, 2013.)
~ Pushcart Prize nomination from Modern Haiku USA (51.3) for haibun (2020)
~ Shortlisted for the Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize for Beyond the Horizon Beyond India (2019)
~ Mainichi Haiku Contest, Honourable Mentions in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2016, and 2021.
~ Winner: Snapshot Press Tanka eBook Award: an unseen arc UK (2017)
~ Winner: Best Anthology, Haiku Society of America Book Award: Naad Anunaad (2017)
~ Winner: Golden Triangle Haiku Contest: 2016
~ Honourable Mention: Akita International Haiku Contest Japan (2015, 2014.)
~ Winner An (Cottage) Prize for the haibun: The Blue Jacaranda. Genjuan International – Haibun Contest 2012, Japan.
~ Honourable Mention for Best Book for Children, Haiku Society of America Book Award (2011)
~ Winner: Tanka Splendor Award (2009)
~ Winner: Heron's Nest Award USA (2006)
A well-known poet who inspires Kala is Michael McClintock and she read several of his beautiful tanka including this one -
I've this memory – riding my father's shoulders into the ocean, the poetry of things before I could speak
Poetry Pea is a fantastic place to find out more about Japanese-style poetry. The podcast features some really interesting conversations with Kala. You can find them here.
fingerprints
all over my poems …
the birds
in the sky leave
no trace
Episode 34 - Kala Ramesh