Tanka Tuesday – Celebrating the Art of Syllabic Poetry

#TankaTuesday Challenge Posts

#TankaTuesday Poetry Challenge No. 70, The Lai 6/23/26

Hi! This is Melissa from Mom With a Blog. I’ll be your host for this week’s #TankaTuesday challenge. I found another form I’d like to have some fun with! The lai (pronounced lay)…

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by Melissa Lemay June 23, 2026June 24, 2026

TankaTuesday Challenges

#TankaTuesday Poetry Challenge No. 69, All About Trees 6/16/26

Hi, this is Robbie, your host for this week’s #TankaTuesday challenge. This week, we’re writing poetry that features a tree or trees. This week I am asking you to write a poem that…

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by robbiesinspiration June 16, 2026June 22, 2026

TankaTuesday Challenges

#TankaTuesday Poetry Challenge No. 68, It’s Vacation Time! 6/9/26

Yvette invites poets to explore the significance of impactful moments on one day, encouraging syllabic poetry submissions for Tanka Tuesday. Incorporate a kigo word, share on personal blogs, and engage with fellow poets’…

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by yvettemcalleiro June 9, 2026June 22, 2026

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Exploring Tanka Poetry

Sunflower Tanka Anthology

Discover a curated selection of innovative and classic tanka poetry from poets around the world, emphasizing form and creative expression.

Our annual anthology celebrates the rich tradition of syllabic poetry, with a special focus on tanka. This concise five-line form offers a perfect balance of simplicity and depth, inviting poets to capture moments, emotions, and scenes with precision and clarity.

Whether you are a seasoned poet or new to the form, our collection provides inspiration and insight into the art of tanka composition.

Sunflower Tanka, edited by Robbie Cheadle & Colleen M. Chesebro, is an annual anthology. Join us in exploring this timeless poetic form through our latest anthology, which showcases a variety of styles, from traditional to experimental approaches.

🌻 visit the sunflower tanka anthology site to learn more 🌻

Sunflower Tanka: A 2025 Anthology of Tanka, Tanka Prose, & Experimental Tanka

For 2025, our theme “Dreams” invites poets to explore the symbolic language of dreaming, where metaphors blur the line between reality and imagination. Dreams often serve as gateways to layered meaning, offering fertile ground for syllabic poetry.

Our annual anthology celebrates the rich tradition of syllabic poetry, with a special focus on tanka & experimental tanka forms.

Available in Kindle & Print

Get the Book

Word Craft: Prose & Poetry

Consider this book the first step on your journey to learning the basics of how to craft syllabic poetry. Inside, you will discover many new forms, syllable combinations, and interpretations of the different Japanese and American forms and structures of haiku, senryu, haiga, tanka, renga/solo renga, gogyohka, haibun, tanka prose, the cinquain, and its variations. Etheree, nonet, and shadorma poetry.

Available in Kindle & Print

Get the Book

2024 Sunflower Tanka

Our theme, “Into the Light,” draws inspiration from the way a young sunflower bud constantly turns to face the sun. Poets delved into the realms of death, love, and the natural world, capturing their human experiences in the timeless form of syllabic poetry. Our annual anthology celebrates the rich tradition of syllabic poetry, with a special focus on tanka & experimental tanka forms.

Available in Kindle & Print

get the book

🌻 visit the Sunflower Tanka Anthology site 🌻

72 Micro Seasons

Discover the 72 Micro Seasons, the rituals, and practices that keep creativity alive day after day.

Syllabic Poetry Forms

Instructions on how to create the different syllabic poetry forms.

Learning Syllabic Poetry

Build resilience, community, and learn the forms to create syllabic poetry.

Meet Our Team

My name is Colleen Chesebro. In 2016, I created Tanka Tuesday as a platform for poets to learn the fundamentals of Japanese and American syllabic poetry. Each Tuesday, a syllabic poetry challenge posts for poets to join in and write together.

Our Team

Melissa, Willow, Yvette, and Robbie joined the team to help create syllabic poetry challenges that stimulate your poetic creativity.