Contemprary Tanka Poet Mariko Kitakubo. Reading Performance.
Tanka reading performance oveseas.
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On June 22, I performed tanka reading at Kanagawa Museum of Modern Literature. |
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Thanks to the planning and coordination by Kanagawa division of Taishu Bungaku Kenkyu-kai, the Popular Literature Study Association, I performed "Fukushima", which is a seriese of tanka which I wrote after visiting the nuclear power plant in Fukusima in Fukusima prefecture Japan, as well as "Prayer for peace", which I often perform overseas. |
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Mr. Genichi Yamamoto, the chairman of the Japan P.E.N. Club environment committee, presented the report and his impression about his visit to Fukushima nuclear power plant. He also talked about his perspective on Camus' "Pest" as a literature of disaster. |
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I would like to thank everyone who made all the arrangements for this event including venue reservation, as well as to all the attendants who came to the event in spite of the rainy weather. |
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Sunday, June 23, 2019
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International Haiku Conference in St. Albans hosted by the Brtish Haiku Society was held from May 31 to June 2. I performed Japanese-English tanka reading in its opening event, and it was my first performance in U.K.! |
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I would like to thank the British Haiku Society and Ms. Illiyana Stoyanova from the bottom of my heart for giving such a precious opportunity to me. The Maltings Art Theater was the venue for the conference. |
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Ms. Illiyana Stoyanova greeted the attendants. |
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Mr. Colin Blundell, the president of BTS, made an opening remarks. |
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Ms. Illiyana Stoyanova and Mr. David Bingham made detailed preparation fo the success of the conference. |
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I recited a series of tanka, "Prayer for peace," while playing 7 kinds of percussion. |
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After my 30-min. performance, I received comments from the audience. Some of them told me that they were moved to tears. Japanese attendants said they were foll of proud feeling as the fellow Japanese. I would like to express my sincere gratitude toward everyone. St. Albans is the 40th city where I performed biingual tanka reading overseas. I would like to make another step forward without ever forgetting my feelings of appreciation toward everyone encouraged me to date. |
International Haiku Conference in St. Albans. Video clip offered by Mr. M. Gilfillan. *To play the video clip, click the image left. *Click  to watch it on large screen. |
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*To play the video clip, click the image left. *Click to watch it on large screen. |
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International Haiku Conference in St. Albans. Video clip offered by Mr. M. Gilfillan. *To play the video clip, click the image left. *Click to watch it on large screen. |
Tuesday, June 4, 2019
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I was very honored to have received an offer from Prof. Masanori Odani of Graduate School of Hosei University to do tanka-reading presentation and talk session, "Getting familiar with Tanka". |
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The time given to me was 200 minutes. Of course, it was the longest presentation time I have ever had! |
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There were more than 60 attendants, most of whom were postgraduate students from abroad. Since most of them have never had an chance to learn Tanka before this day, I presented reading of some pieces from Manyo-shu and representative contemporary tanka. I also explained how to express one's feeling in the form of a five-line poem with the 5-7-5-7-7 sound unit structure. A talk with Prof. Michi Shiina was also a part of my presentation. |
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Prof. M. Odani introduced me to the attendants. |
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The students listened to me very carefully and sincerely. Laughter arouse many time, and the classroom was filled with cozy and friendly atmosphere. |
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The attendants perticipated in composing tanka so actively that we run out of the worksheet I prepared beforehand! It was very much happy with their enthusiasm. I would be very happy if it turned out to be a meaningful time for all the attendants. |
Tuesday, May 21, 2019
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It was my first tanka-reading presentation (with German translation) in Germany. Traben-Trarbach turned out to be the 39th city where I performed reading overseas. Mr. Stefan Wolfshutz, a member of German Haiku Association, introduced me to the audience. |
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Ms. Valeria Barouch, a poet who translated my tanka into German, supported me to offer German version while my reading performance. |
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When I received comments from the audiene saying they were impressed with my performance, I felt relieved, and was very happy at the same time. |
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This is the internet poetry journal in which German verison of my tanka is poseted. I selected 10 pieces from my anthology, "INDIGO", and Ms. Valerie Barouch translated them into German. |
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Owing for Ms. Ono's much efforts, this bilingual Japanese-German tanka collection selected by Mr. Yukitsuna Sasaki has completed. I also performed reading 10 pieces of tanka from this book. I have got along very well with Ms. Masami Ono-Feller, who completed a huge project of compiling Japanese-German version tanka collection. |
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I sincerely wish our good relationship lasts forever. |
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The weather forcast was wrong, and I was very happy about it. I was able to spend comfortable morning. |
Sunday, May 5, 2019
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