The #TankaTuesday 2022 Poetry Challenge Schedule

Posted byColleen M. ChesebroPosted inTanka Tuesday Poetry ChallengesTags:, , , , , , , ,

This is our last #TankaTuesday post for 2021. I’ve taken a holiday from the blog starting December 27 through January 2, 2022.

Our first #TankaTuesday post will be January 4, 2022.

After careful consideration of all your wonderful prompt suggestions, I’ve compiled the weekly challenge prompts for 2022. Feel free to copy the prompt images from this page to use on your own blogs, if you wish. Please do not use the prompt images from prior year’s challenges as they do not reflect the current information.

Please note:

On most of the prompts, I’ve left the selection of the syllabic forms open to the poet. This is to give you a chance to practice new or old forms on your own terms. It also gives you more say in what you want to write and learn. Remember, Japanese poetry has stricter rules than most of the other forms.

The challenge runs from Tuesday through Sunday at noon (Detroit, USA time). I’ll continue to create a Monday Recap. Remember to add your poems to Mr. Linky. That way, we have all the poetry submitted in one place. All I have to do is cut and paste into the recap.

A new rule this year: NO “ing” endings on words to make the syllable count work. Go that step further to find a better word.

I’m a purest with Japanese poetry, and for the #TankaTuesday challenges, please follow the rules of the specific form. Pay attention to what forms get titles and which ones don’t.

A haibun is always “at least one prose paragraph and a haiku” – not a haibun and a haiku. Tanka Prose is always at least one prose paragraph and a tanka. Remember the difference between haiku and senryu. If you create a haiga, the photo cannot complete the poem. Tanka poetry in photos does not make it a haiga. We should place only haiku and senryu in photos. Remember, that’s why we call this a CHALLENGE. It’s important to follow the rules of the forms. ❤

We’re going back to our roots this year as we feature syllabic poetry only. All submitted poetry must have a syllable structure from the Tanka Tuesday Cheat Sheet, or the syllabic forms on the PoetsCollective.org. Be careful… not all the forms listed in the Poets Collective are syllabic forms. If in doubt, stick to the forms on the Tanka Tuesday Cheat sheet below:

Tanka Tuesday Cheat Sheet

I’ll start us off by choosing the prompts in January 2022. The poets take over in February 2022 with their selections.

First Week of the Month: Taste the Rainbow

Poets choose your own form and color. If the poem is from the #TankaTuesday Cheat sheet, let us know so we know where to look for directions. If the form is something new, include how to write the form.

Second Week of the Month: Colleen’s #SpecificForm

In the second week of the month, I’ll select a syllabic form for us to write. I’ll also give examples of how to write the form and tell you what I can find out about the form’s history. As a bonus, I’ll provide a song or another piece of poetry to inspire your own poetry creation. Occasionally, I’ll include information about a literary poet who also writes this form.

Third Week of the Month: #Photo Prompt

In the third week of the month, we will receive our poetic inspiration from a photo or Ekphrastic prompt chosen by one of our poets. In January, I’ll pick someone to select a photo or a piece of art to inspire a syllabic poem of our choice. Email your choice to colleen@wordcraftpoetry.com.

Fourth Week of the Month: #ThemePrompt

In the fourth week of the month, we will receive our poetic inspiration from a theme prompt chosen by one of our poets. In January, I’ll pick someone to select a theme to inspire a syllabic poem of our choice. Email your choice to colleen@wordcraftpoetry.com.

Fifth Week of the Month: #ShareYourDay – Take a Photo & Write a Syllabic Poem

There are only four times in 2022 that we get a fifth week with a Tuesday: March 29, May 31, August 30, and November 29. I thought it would be fun to try something different. For this #TankaTuesday challenge, share your day with us. Take a photo to share and write a syllabic poem of your choice.

I’m excited about this exceptional year of poetry! Do you know that if you take part in each challenge, you will have 52 poems! How cool is that? Sounds like a delightful book of poetry!

Published by Colleen M. Chesebro

An avid reader, Colleen M. Chesebro rekindled her love of writing poetry after years spent working in the accounting industry. These days, she loves crafting syllabic poetry, flash fiction, and creative fiction and nonfiction. In addition to poetry books, Chesebro’s publishing career includes participation in various anthologies featuring short stories, flash fiction, and poetry. She’s an avid supporter of her writing community on Word Craft Poetry.com by organizing and sponsoring a weekly syllabic poetry challenge, called #TankaTuesday, where participants experiment with traditional and current forms of Japanese and American syllabic poetry. Chesebro is an assistant editor of The Congress of the Rough Writers Flash Fiction Anthology & Gitty Up Press, a micro-press founded by Charli Mills and Carrot Ranch. In January 2022, Colleen founded Unicorn Cats Publishing Services to assist poets and authors in creating eBooks and print books for publication. In addition, she creates affordable book covers for Kindle and print books. Chesebro lives in the house of her dreams in mid-Michigan surrounded by the Great Lakes with her husband and two (unicorn) cats, Chloe & Sophie.

63 thoughts on “The #TankaTuesday 2022 Poetry Challenge Schedule”

  1. Hello Colleen I hope you and everyone who visits here had a lovely Christmas. I am so excited by the prospect of another year of poetry for us all to share. So happy New Year to you Colleen and everyone 💜💜💜

    Liked by 7 people

    1. Willow, you are so lovely! We had a wonderful Christmas. Ron and I ordered a new table and chairs. It took us all day Christmas Eve to put it together! But we had Christmas dinner on our new table. The kitchen is almost finished. ❤️

      Liked by 4 people

        1. It was so fun. We were both exhausted, but the table turned out to be so much more than we expected. Another great Amazon find. It’s been a fun time. Dustin, his brother Jake, and Dustin’s wife Molly stopped by on the 23rd. We had a fun visit with yummy finger foods and a lovely organic wine. Having friends nearby makes all the difference during the holidays. ❤

          Liked by 1 person

  3. Lovely new ideas Colleen I hope to join in probably after January, we’ll see. I’ve missed writing poetry! I will be taking a bit of a break in January to visit relatives and hopefully work on my books. Book 2 Curse of Time is finally in process… and Book 1 is in audiobook production. Have a lovely break. Xxx

    Liked by 6 people

  6. Wonderful, Colleen. I look forward to another year of creating syllabic poetry under your tutelage. Fingers crossed that this New Year is filled with blessings for all. 💗

    Liked by 4 people

  7. Best to all with the entry of the New Year!
    Looks like an interesting challenge schedual.
    The only one I might have difficult with is the Share a ‘current’ photo – as I am not adept at getting new images of my own on my pc. So I might use something I’ve already have that relates to the present day.

    It does not look like a smart phone is in my future, nor understanding how to use the used gifted IPad. I’ll live.

    Best to you Colleen on that new kitchen – may you have many lovely and nourishing meals there!! 💝

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Jules, you can take a photo with the iPad and email it to yourself. Then, you save the photo to your desktop and upload to your blog. It’s good for you to learn new things and stretch your wings. You’re so creative with your poetry. I’m sure you will come up with some entertaining poetry to share your day with us. There are only 4 of these challenges. Happy New Year, my friend. I look forward to cooking in my new kitchen. ❤

      Liked by 1 person

      1. My DIL was supposed to tutor me with the IPad during the summer… that didn’t happen…
        I may pay a Geek…(squad), as hubby isn’t into IPads. We’ll see.

        Liked by 1 person

  8. I normally write prose poetry, so syllabic poetry will definitely be a challenge for me. I have very little writing time, but I am hoping to participate every now and then in your challenges. I always enjoy what others come up with, so they’ve inspired me to give it a try. Enjoy your new year celebration, Colleen! 🙂

    Liked by 4 people

    1. Yvette, I believe the two forms can be merged successfully. You can write your freestyle poetry as the prose portion of your haibun or tanka prose. All you have to do is include a haiku or a tanka poem. The only difference is that you don’t repeat what you’ve already said in the prose part in your haiku or tanka. Instead you make your connection by sharing something different—almost another facet or layer of meaning. You will have no problem with these forms at all. Use the syllable counter for the haiku and tanka. I know you will write something beautiful, and I can’t wait to have you join in. ❤

      Liked by 1 person

  10. Congrats on your new kitchen table and chairs, Colleen! Thank you for sharing your schedule for 2022, and I am hoping for a bright and cheerful new year! Hugs!

    PS I love this theme for your blog!

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Can you believe this theme has been there all along? It looks good and the colors help keep it vibrant. Happy New Year, Franci. I hope to jump into your challenge more often this year. The kitchen is almost finished!! ❤

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Yay for your new theme and your new kitchen! There is a lot coming up in 2022, which I will releasing a post soon so we should all be busy. I had some theme issues yesterday and received unsurpassed assistance from the theme support team. Seems it was a glitch but I learned a lot.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Excellent! WP .org always helps. Everything on WP is glitchy. I used to embed an Amazon book link in my reviews. All of a sudden I can’t do that. I wish they would fix this stuff. It’s so frustrating. I can’t wait to hear your 2022 news! 😍❤️

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  11. I love poetry. I have not written any poetry. I have no idea where to start. But I read George Sand’s thought: “He who draws noble delights from sentiments of poetry is a true poet, though he has never written a line in all his life.”

    I’m taking a deep breath and diving. Not certain if I will be able to keep up, but even one step forward is a good start. Looking forward to entering 2022 together!

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Rebecca, I’ve never been into rhyming poetry. It just sounds artificial to me. Syllabic poetry is different, it’s just not pretty prose. Because of the brevity in words, you’re forced to write with more meaning. Maybe it’s a clearer meaning. The syllable count gives a rhythm all its own. You know what? We all learn syllabic poetry together at Word Craft Poetry. The Japanese forms have more rules than the “American” versions. Don’t be afraid to try. Sally and I called these poems “word puzzles” because you have to find the right word to fit. The cheat sheet should help: https://wordcraftpoetry.com/tanka-tuesday-poetry-cheat-sheet-for-tanka-tuesday-poetry-challenges/. Email me at Colleen@wordcraftpoetry.com if you have questions. Just have fun. ❤

      Liked by 1 person

    1. You know, I participated in a haiku challenge in December and that was one of the rules. I thought it was brilliant. We have to learn to select better verbs and adjectives in order to get our thoughts across. It will make you think harder for sure. 😀 Happy New Year! ❤

      Liked by 1 person

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