For today’s adventure, I’ve spent a few hours tying up all the loose ends for The Big Renga project, so that we’re all good to go on the 1st December.
Today I updated the About The Poetspage : there are 14 of us now. On this page. you’ll find an image and a description for each of the poets.
I also added a new page for The Big Renga Round-Up. From the 1st – 25th December, people will be able to watch a live show which shares the daily news from the project. On this page, you’ll see that I created a new introduction trailer too : it’s much shorter than my first attempt!
The poets themselves have been invited to join me “on the sofa” for The Big Renga Round-Up and they’ve been given details about the video clips they need to submit with their verses too (at the end of the project, I’ll have 25 clips that I can edit into one short film!)
So, that’s us. We’re all set. During the last week of November, we’ll be doing a bit of practice behind the scenes, and on the 1st December, we go LIVE!
Lots of preparation is going on behind the scenes to support the launch of The Big Renga Project on the 1st December. Renga is a cross between jazz , chess and a murder mystery (where you’re constantly changing your mind about “who-dunnit”) . At the moment the poets are getting their heads around all the rules so that when it comes to the time to “play”, everyone can relax and have fun.
You could say that The Big Renga Project is quite an esoteric undertaking, something that you might only enjoy, or understand, if you were involved in the project and had immersed yourself in the spirit of this collaborative form of poetry.
Realising that the art of renga has a huge amount to teach us both in terms of an outlook on life and in terms of the way we collaborate and express ourselves, it occurred to me that inviting people to share our experiences might be something really worthwhile.
And that’s when I hit upon the idea of running a daily TV show throughout the project 🙂 . Think about those football programmes with post-match reviews; or about the television programmes covering the Olympics where, after each event, a panel of experts analyses the performances of the day – and some of the competitors actually come on the show too. That’s the approach I’m aiming to deliver on the TV show.
The programme will be fun (and probably more than a little tongue-in-cheek)! It’s going to teach the viewers about the form and get them in involved in the process too. It’s also going to help the community of poets get tactical as they develop a deeper understanding of the form.
To support the TV programme, I had a go at creating a title sequence for it : it’s the first time I’ve managed to make something with a dynamic video loop. You can watch the title sequence here :
For today’s adventure, I set about learning the rules of renga, a Japanese form of collaborative linked-verse poetry. There are now 13 poets involved in The Big Renga Project , and I wanted to put some easy-to-follow guidelines together so that people could get to grips with the rules before the big “renga off” on the 1st December 😛 .
There are many versions of “the rules”. I plumped for a distillation of the traditional rules : I’ve based the rules for The Big Renga Project on Sonja Arntzen’s article (you’ll need to scroll down to the bottom of the article for the rules applying to renga).
I’ve spent 3 hours immersing myself in various forms of the rules today – and now it makes complete sense! I’ve adapted Sonja’s version of the rules slightly so that they work for our 25-stanza poem, and I’ve posted these rules into our group forum.
I can imagine if you haven’t seen rules like this before, you might not think that they’re that simple. That’s why I’ve written the rules well in advance of the start of December – the group has more than a month to get its head around these rules! As well as being one of the participating poets, I’ll also be the GRU (General Rule-Upholder 😛 ), making sure that everyone keeps on track and also understands the implications of each verse within the context of the rules. This means that people can relax and have fun, knowing that they’ll get a friendly nudge if need be or some advice if they want it.
I explain some of the rules we’ll be using in our collaborative poetry project in today’s video 🙂 .
Oh – and maybe I should mention that it’s my 300th adventure today! Only 65 days of adventuring left 😦 . I think this calls for a celebratory meal tonight, don’t you?
For today’s adventure, I finished creating the website for The Big Renga collaborative poetry project. I even learned how to create a contact form for the “Contact Us” page 🙂 I’m just waiting for bio details from the poets and then we’re good to go.
The brilliant news is that there are now 9 of us. I’ve worked out that if we can grow the crew to 12, then the project will work out pretty well. Of course, more than 12 would be fabulous, but 12 is enough.
In mid-November, I’ll be closing The Big Renga Project doors so that the renju (collaborative poets) can spend some time agreeing how the logistics are going to work and also learn a little more about the renga form.
For today’s adventure, I’ve done a few things to support the success of The Big Renga Project!
I’ve built a website which you can check out here ~ the structure is complete, but the content will take a little time to finish. The project also has its own Facebook page which you can view here , and a private Facebook group to support the renju (the collaborative poets).
I might actually need a wee lie down after today’s adventure!
I’m sure you may have realised by now that I’m a bit of a haiku fan 🙂 . As part of the research for my book Seventeen Syllables ~ Cultivating Presence Through Poetry, I looked at the origins of the haiku form. What is now known as haiku was originally known as hokku, the first verse of a collaborative linked- verse poem called a renga.
The renga form has been around since the thirteenth century, and you can find out more about it here. In a nutshell, groups of poets works together to create a linked poem. The first stanza follows a 3-line 5-7-5 syllable format, just like the haiku. It also contains a kigo (season word) and a kireji (cutting word). The second stanza responds to the first stanza, but this time in a 2-line 7-7 syllable format. The renga then gets handed back to the first poet or handed on to the third who, again, works with what is offered in the second stanza but employs the structure of the first (7-5-7).
This sequence of 3-line and 2-line structures is then repeated until the poem is done!
I thought is would be fun to work with other poets to create a renga poem called “December” to capture the spirit of this month. As December will be the last month of my 365 Days Of Adventure project, it feels like collaborating with others might be a lovely way to end the year.
So, for today’s adventure, I’m launching The Big Renga Project and this is where you come in! I’m putting out a call for a crew of 23 poets to join me in creating a 25-verse renga. Whilst no previous poetry-writing experience is required to join the project, I’m looking for people who are
Up for learning about, and respecting, the renga form
Keen to collaborate and be part of a supportive, playful, creative community
Able to keep their commitments
Prepared to be responsive and present to the previous stanza
Respectful of the emergent spirit of the renga
Willing to record their stanza in video format (so I can create a film of the whole renga with all the poets involved)
The project will start on December the 1st and the final verse will be created on the 25th. I will create a private Facebook group to facilitate collaboration and information sharing. Each day during December, the poem will be updated so that people can see the renga grow.
If this sounds like this project could be for you, please drop me an email to jane@janetalbot.com in the first instance. If you know of others who might enjoy being part of this collaborative venture, please feel free to share this information with them.
NOTE – it is not necessary for the poetry to be written in English. However, to support other poets, a translation into English will be required for a smooth stanza transition! For all non-English stanzas, subtitles will be required for the video 🙂 .
For today’s adventure, I’ve spent a few hours tying up all the loose ends for The Big Renga project, so that we’re all good to go on the 1st December.
Humans Resourced 