The StAnza/Dundee Renga
StAnza was thrilled to pair up with the Dundee Renga to create a collaborative poem in the run-up to StAnza 2021.
The StAnza Renga is a chain poem compiled by email from 8 – 28 February. Roughly 20 writers came together to create the poem according to the principles of the Japanese renga. (Caveat: we're not too strict about counting syllables here.)
Wondering how it works? Bill Herbert, poet and the brains behind the Dundee Renga, emailed an initial three-line poem (hokku) out to the group at the start of each month, and participants responded over the course of the day with a two-line poem which bounced off this initial three lines in some way. Bill then selected a poem out of those he received and ciurculated that asking for a three-liner by the following evening. The result was a beautiful, sometimes surprising reflection on the month as it progressed.