Renshi

Master poets Ooka Makoto, Shuntaro Tanikawa, Kim Yong-Jik were joined by Canadian Roseann O'Reilly Runte in Tokyo on a very warm August day in 1991 to compose a linked-verse poem. It was also the day the Soviet Parliament was stormed, foreshadowing the end of the Cold War. Not knowing the future, the poets chose to celebrate the lasting power of words to survive discord and violence. They believed the beauty of poetry would inspire and transcend time, national and linguistic borders. They followed an ancient Japanese poetic form called Renga and they wrote simultaneously in English, French, Japanese and Korean.

This volume includes the original recording made by the poets, artwork inspired by the poems by Sylviane de Roquebrune and music by Casey Sokol.

The Renga form dates from medieval times when poets came together at a castle to compose in the course of a single day linked verses that responded to each other, creating a poetic dialogue. We believe this to be the sole Renga ever composed completely in four languages at once.