Bright Stars focuses on the Japanese aesthetic of ‘akarui’—bright, light, illuminated, brilliant, shiny, brassy, active, energetic, noisy, loud, happy, drunk, passionate, wild, playful, vivid, and boundless. That doesn’t mean there is no darkness—black is a color too, but our dark poems are actively dark, not a sighing shade of grey.
Bright Stars is devoted to five line poetry—tanka, waka, kyoka, gogyoshi, shaped tanka, tanka sequence, tanka prose, collaborative tanka—any form based on the short, lyrical, five part poem originally from Japan. We welcome experimentation and variation (including sedoka)—there are other venues that publish traditional tanka, but Bright Stars dreams of the future, not the past.
Bright Stars is especially open to poets who have not previously published tanka, and two thirds of the voices in Volume 1 have never or only rarely been published in tanka venues. Bright Stars also encourages established poets to send their experimental work, their new directions, and their innovations. Collectively, the poets bring fresh new viewpoints that expand the range of subjects, approaches, and techniques in tanka literature today.
to the notion of publishing fresh perspectives is the idea that tanka ought to be available to as many people as possible. Therefore, Bright Stars is available in an economical large format that contains 1000 poems for only $10 USD (£6.00 GBP / €7.00 EUR) and a Kindle ebook for only $5 USD. Small presses, because they sell so few copies, normally have to set the cover price at a level that allows them to recoup expenses. Keibooks has carefully calculated the risks and hopes that expanded sales will cover the cost of production. We are committed to the project for one year. We encourage readers to purchase copies to donate to schools and libraries, and our Educational Use Policy facilitates the use of Bright Stars in any educational setting.
Sample Poems:
he may fight for
truth, justice and
the American way,
but Superman’s still
an illegal immigrant
Grunge
beneath the mattress
seven hundred dollars
in a sealed envelope—
she never once told me
her secrets
Julie Bloss Kelsey
out
of his sweaty palms
a blooming
nightshade just as amazing
as lies from his mouth
Matsukaze
let’s quickly drink
this New Year’s pink champagne
for
we might not die tomorrow
but then again we might
Amelia Fielden
Contributors:
Alan Summers, Alexander Jankiewicz, Alexis Rotella, Amelia Fielden, André Surridge, Angelo Ancheta, Autumn Noelle Hall, Belinda Broughton, Bell Chevigny, Bob Lucky, Brendan Slater, Britton Gildersleeve, Bruce D. Reed, Carol Raisfeld, Carole Harrison, Carole Johnston, Chen-ou Liu, Clive Oseman, Christina Nguyen, Dave Read, David Rice, Dawn Bruce, Debbie Strange, Devin Walter Harrison, Eamonn O’Neill, Elle M, Ernesto P. Santiago, Eve Castle, Frank Watson, Gary Blankenship, gennepher, Gerry Jacobson, Grunge, Hank Archer, Jade Pandora, Jeffrey Harpeng, Johannes S. H. Bjerg, Joy McCall, Julie Bloss Kelsey, Kath Abela Wilson, Kathy Uyen Nguyen, Keitha Keyes, Kristen Lindbeck, Laurence Stacey, Liam Wilkinson, Luís Enrique Méndez Angulo, Lynne Leach, M. Kei, Marianne Paul, Marie Lecrivain, Marilyn Morgan, Matsukaze, Michael McClintock, Michael Seese, Mike Montreuil, Nu Quang, Nilufer Y. Mistry, Pat Geyer, Patricia Prime, Peter Fiore, Polona Oblak, Pravat Kumar Padhy, Ramesh Anand, Richard St. Clair, Roary Williams, Ruth Y. Nott, S. M. Abeles, Sandy Pray, Sanford Goldstein, Sergio Ortiz, Sondra J. Byrnes, Stephanie Brennan, Susan Constable, Terri Simon, Toki, Tracy Davidson, Tzod Earf, William Hart
His tanka sparks the reader's reflection on the passage of time in relation to memory, and reminds me of the following remark:
I know this much: that there is objective time, but also subjective time, the kind you wear on the inside of your wrist, next to where the pulse lies. And this personal time, which is the true time, is measured in your relationship to memory.
― Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending