Explore & write: SENRYU - haiku's comic cousin | Online workshop with Alex Corrin-Tachibana | Friday 24th May | 10.00am–12.30pm BST (UK)
Settle with us for a morning exploring the Japanese poetry form, Senryu.
We will use the time to reflect and explore the nature of the form under the watchful guidance of inspiring poet and teacher Alex Corrin-Tachibana who has lived and written in Japan for a decade.
Senryu: the Haiku’s comic cousin!
Drawing on her decade’s experience of life in Japan and her Masters in Japanese, Alex will guide you through the centuries from the development of Japanese senryu in the 18th century by Karai Senryu, a judge of comic verse contests, through to contemporary British lockdown senryu, by Sue Spiers. The senryu has been dubbed the haiku’s ‘comic cousin’ by American poet and guru of Japanese form, Kimiko Hahn.
This workshop will explore the features of the genre, compared to the more familiar haiku, and consider what type of content might best suit the senryu form. It will include generative prompts, bespoke audio materials from poet Sue Spiers, examples of Japanese scripts, and a chance to share work. Alex will utilise her experience of Japanese culture to illuminate the form.
Expect plenty of generative prompts, bespoke audio materials, examples of Japanese scripts, and a chance to share your written responses. Alex will utilise her experience of Japanese culture to throw light on this form.
Numbers limited to 16.
Fee: £30
What people have said about Alex:
She is a wonderfully inspiring and generous facilitator who is always thinking about the best way to combine the space to practice writing poems with learning from already established poets.
Alex facilitated in a warm, thoughtful and supportive manner which created a safe space for participants to share ideas and extracts from their writing.
She has provided a rich mix of innovative material, facilitated inspired group discussions, and I have come away buzzing with ideas for new work!
Alex's workshops have introduced me to some of my new favourite writers. I would wholeheartedly recommend!
Places are limited, early booking recommended to avoid disappointment.
Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana has an MA in Writing Poetry from Newcastle University and an MA in Japanese Language from Sheffield University. Until this December, she also taught creative writing at Newcastle University.
She has an intimate knowledge of Japanese poetic form, having lived in Japan for ten years.
Her most recent work appeared in PN Review, The Moth, Poetry Wales, Fenland Poetry Journal, Tears in the Fence and The Alchemy Spoon. Online her poems can be read in Anthropocene, The High Window and London Grip.
She came third in the 2020 Oxford Brookes International Poetry competition, has been shortlisted for the Winchester and Troubadour prizes, and had two poems shortlisted by Billy Collins, for the 2022 Fish Prize.
Her debut collection, Sing Me Down from the Dark, is published by SALT.
Praise for Sing Me Down From the Dark:
‘Charting a cross-cultural relationship through courtship, wedding and a marriage’s slow disintegration, this collection carries us across continents and years through love, disappointment and anger towards a new beginning. Vulnerable, direct and formally exact, these are generous, courageous and devastating poems that will draw you in, hold you close and leave you feeling wrung out but triumphant.’
—Jacqueline Saphra
Settle with us for a morning exploring the Japanese poetry form, Senryu.
We will use the time to reflect and explore the nature of the form under the watchful guidance of inspiring poet and teacher Alex Corrin-Tachibana who has lived and written in Japan for a decade.
Senryu: the Haiku’s comic cousin!
Drawing on her decade’s experience of life in Japan and her Masters in Japanese, Alex will guide you through the centuries from the development of Japanese senryu in the 18th century by Karai Senryu, a judge of comic verse contests, through to contemporary British lockdown senryu, by Sue Spiers. The senryu has been dubbed the haiku’s ‘comic cousin’ by American poet and guru of Japanese form, Kimiko Hahn.
This workshop will explore the features of the genre, compared to the more familiar haiku, and consider what type of content might best suit the senryu form. It will include generative prompts, bespoke audio materials from poet Sue Spiers, examples of Japanese scripts, and a chance to share work. Alex will utilise her experience of Japanese culture to illuminate the form.
Expect plenty of generative prompts, bespoke audio materials, examples of Japanese scripts, and a chance to share your written responses. Alex will utilise her experience of Japanese culture to throw light on this form.
Numbers limited to 16.
Fee: £30
What people have said about Alex:
She is a wonderfully inspiring and generous facilitator who is always thinking about the best way to combine the space to practice writing poems with learning from already established poets.
Alex facilitated in a warm, thoughtful and supportive manner which created a safe space for participants to share ideas and extracts from their writing.
She has provided a rich mix of innovative material, facilitated inspired group discussions, and I have come away buzzing with ideas for new work!
Alex's workshops have introduced me to some of my new favourite writers. I would wholeheartedly recommend!
Places are limited, early booking recommended to avoid disappointment.
Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana has an MA in Writing Poetry from Newcastle University and an MA in Japanese Language from Sheffield University. Until this December, she also taught creative writing at Newcastle University.
She has an intimate knowledge of Japanese poetic form, having lived in Japan for ten years.
Her most recent work appeared in PN Review, The Moth, Poetry Wales, Fenland Poetry Journal, Tears in the Fence and The Alchemy Spoon. Online her poems can be read in Anthropocene, The High Window and London Grip.
She came third in the 2020 Oxford Brookes International Poetry competition, has been shortlisted for the Winchester and Troubadour prizes, and had two poems shortlisted by Billy Collins, for the 2022 Fish Prize.
Her debut collection, Sing Me Down from the Dark, is published by SALT.
Praise for Sing Me Down From the Dark:
‘Charting a cross-cultural relationship through courtship, wedding and a marriage’s slow disintegration, this collection carries us across continents and years through love, disappointment and anger towards a new beginning. Vulnerable, direct and formally exact, these are generous, courageous and devastating poems that will draw you in, hold you close and leave you feeling wrung out but triumphant.’
—Jacqueline Saphra
Settle with us for a morning exploring the Japanese poetry form, Senryu.
We will use the time to reflect and explore the nature of the form under the watchful guidance of inspiring poet and teacher Alex Corrin-Tachibana who has lived and written in Japan for a decade.
Senryu: the Haiku’s comic cousin!
Drawing on her decade’s experience of life in Japan and her Masters in Japanese, Alex will guide you through the centuries from the development of Japanese senryu in the 18th century by Karai Senryu, a judge of comic verse contests, through to contemporary British lockdown senryu, by Sue Spiers. The senryu has been dubbed the haiku’s ‘comic cousin’ by American poet and guru of Japanese form, Kimiko Hahn.
This workshop will explore the features of the genre, compared to the more familiar haiku, and consider what type of content might best suit the senryu form. It will include generative prompts, bespoke audio materials from poet Sue Spiers, examples of Japanese scripts, and a chance to share work. Alex will utilise her experience of Japanese culture to illuminate the form.
Expect plenty of generative prompts, bespoke audio materials, examples of Japanese scripts, and a chance to share your written responses. Alex will utilise her experience of Japanese culture to throw light on this form.
Numbers limited to 16.
Fee: £30
What people have said about Alex:
She is a wonderfully inspiring and generous facilitator who is always thinking about the best way to combine the space to practice writing poems with learning from already established poets.
Alex facilitated in a warm, thoughtful and supportive manner which created a safe space for participants to share ideas and extracts from their writing.
She has provided a rich mix of innovative material, facilitated inspired group discussions, and I have come away buzzing with ideas for new work!
Alex's workshops have introduced me to some of my new favourite writers. I would wholeheartedly recommend!
Places are limited, early booking recommended to avoid disappointment.
Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana has an MA in Writing Poetry from Newcastle University and an MA in Japanese Language from Sheffield University. Until this December, she also taught creative writing at Newcastle University.
She has an intimate knowledge of Japanese poetic form, having lived in Japan for ten years.
Her most recent work appeared in PN Review, The Moth, Poetry Wales, Fenland Poetry Journal, Tears in the Fence and The Alchemy Spoon. Online her poems can be read in Anthropocene, The High Window and London Grip.
She came third in the 2020 Oxford Brookes International Poetry competition, has been shortlisted for the Winchester and Troubadour prizes, and had two poems shortlisted by Billy Collins, for the 2022 Fish Prize.
Her debut collection, Sing Me Down from the Dark, is published by SALT.
Praise for Sing Me Down From the Dark:
‘Charting a cross-cultural relationship through courtship, wedding and a marriage’s slow disintegration, this collection carries us across continents and years through love, disappointment and anger towards a new beginning. Vulnerable, direct and formally exact, these are generous, courageous and devastating poems that will draw you in, hold you close and leave you feeling wrung out but triumphant.’
—Jacqueline Saphra