Annual Tanka Contest 2015
Welcome to the third consecutive year of the Annual Tanka Contest at Mandy's Pages. Tanka is a poetic genre that has its origins in Japanese poery. It is made up of five lines and has a unique poetic style that is short and lyrical, making it a 'little song'.
As always, we have some excellent judges on the panel, who are remarkable for their contributions to tanka as poets, editors and mentors.
In addition, we have donors who contribute towards book prizes, and authors who use this space for paid advertising, and in turn also account for the cash towards the prizes. Thank you, all of you.
Contest Details
Contest Duration: June 01, 2015 to June 30, 2015
Entry: First submission FREE. Subsequent tanka submissions by participant at an entry fee of USD 2.00 each.
Submission: One to many tanka as per entry fee criteria.
Entry fee payment by Paypal only, sent in to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Theme: Open Theme. You may submit tanka of your choice that have not been published before. No plagiarism allowed.
Content: Original tanka written specifically for this contest with no prior submissions or publications elsewhere either in print or online, which includes public posts on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter.
(Please Note: Mandy's Pages is a family-friendly site. Therefore content should not be overly adult, profane, explicit, abusive, or sexual in nature.)
Additional Reading: Contestants are encouraged to read 'Enriching Your Tanka-Writing Experience: It's All About Quality' before you submit your tanka.
Judges: Claire Everett and David Terelinck
Announcement of Winners: Judging will take place for a period of two to four weeks after the close of the contest. This duration is based on the amount of tanka we receive during the submission period.
Submission Procedure: (Copy and Paste into email)
Addressed to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Subject: ATC 2015 tanka entry (your name)
(Body of the email)
Name:
Place / Country:
Tanka Entry
Number of tanka submissions:
Please be aware that within a few days of your submission you should receive a "Confirmation of Submission" from me. If not, please do not hesitate to contact me via the same email or through This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or private message me on Facebook.
Submissions will not be accepted before and after the respective dates outlined in this announcement.
Prizes
First Prize : USD 100.00 + Books + Certificate
Second Prize: USD 50 + Certificate
Third Prize: Certificate
(Iconic Moon: Sponsored by poet Hazel Hall, Founder & Facilitator, School of Music Poets, Canberra, Australia)
Introducing the Judges
Claire Everett
Claire Everett's haiku, tanka, haibun and tanka prose, have appeared in many of the short-form poetry journals worldwide. She was a contributing poet for cycle 11 (spring/summer 2011) of the online journal Daily Haiku and was also a member of the editorial team for Take Five 4: Best Contemporary Tanka, 2011. Claire's interest in tanka prose increased when she was invited by M. Kei to conduct an in-depth interview with Jeffrey Woodward for Atlas Poetica 9 (July 2011) discussing the history and practice of tanka prose. In December 2011, Claire became Tanka Prose Editor for Haibun Today, a role which she now combines with her editorship of Skylark, an English language tanka journal for tanka in all its forms. Her first tanka collection, 'twelve moons' was published in 2012. She is one of the 17 selected haiku poets for A New Resonance 9, the acclaimed series of award winning anthologies by Red Moon Press.
Claire lives with her husband, Tony, and three of their seven children, in North Yorkshire England and draws most of her inspiration from tandem rides with Tony throughout North Yorkshire, Cumbria and beyond.
For an insight on how Claire aims to judge this contest, please read the article "What Makes a Memorable Tanka?" written by Claire herself.
David Terelinck
David Terelinck has been involved in creative writing for over 25 years and has won awards for his short stories, articles and poetry. He is passionate about quality in tanka and is currently on the tanka selection panel for GUSTS: Contemporary Tanka. David has won several international awards for his tanka and rengay and has had his tanka published in journals and anthologies in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the USA, the UK and Canada. In 2014 David was awarded first place in the tanka section of the British Haiku Awards. David has published two tanka collections, Casting Shadows and Slow Growing Ivy, and resides in Sydney, Australia with his partner Rob and his cat Akimi. He enjoys giving tanka and other creative writing workshops and lives by his motto scribo ergo respiro.
Credits
My sincere thanks to the following people who make this year's contest possible.
Darryl Rosario for his ongoing and loyal support to Mandy's Pages as the first sponsor each year, for three consecutive years.
Hazel Hall has sponsored Iconic Moon and In Response to Triage.
Claire Everett has offered to award the winner with a year's membership (2 issues) of Skylark: A Tanka Journal, a copy of 'twelve moons' and publication of the winning entry in the next issue of Skylark.
David Terelinck awards the winner a copy of his books Casting Shadows and Slow Growing Ivy, in addition to a copy each of Wind through the Wheatfields: tanka by Beverley George writing with friends, and Grevillea & Wonga Vine: Australian Tanka of Place, edited by Beverley George and David Terelinck.
Michael Dylan Welch from the Tanka Society of America for helping advertise this contest via the TSA website. The TSA Sanford Goldstein International Tanka Contest is currently on from May 01, 2015 to June 30, 2015.
Ken from All Things Tanka, for willingly promoting my contest through his site.
Janet Lynn Davis from twigs&stones for promoting this contest.
Last but not the least, all you friends and well-wishers, for forwarding and sharing this page link. I am very grateful for your support.
