A Tanoshii Tanka workshop will be held on Saturday, June 17, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Beyond Baroque, 681 N. Venice Blvd. in Venice.
The workshop will feature poet Genie Nakano, who will begin by presenting her newly released book, “Colorful Lives: A Coloring-Tanka Poetry Book,” designed and illustrated by Alvin Takamori and published by Chin Music Press. Nakano and Takamori will share selections from and talk about the book.
Next, Nakano will discuss the history of tanka. With the assistance of Green Poets, she will demonstrate a form called tanka/response. After that, she will conduct a workshop on how to write tanka, and all participants will have the opportunity to write and share their poems.
Nakano has an MFA in dance from UCLA. She is a poet/columnist for The Rafu Shimpoand teaches gentle yoga and tanka at the Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute. She has written three books of tanka, which is her favorite form of writing. All of her books are available on Amazon.com.
Takamori studied industrial design at CSU Long Beach. In 1987, he began working at Stacy Dukes Design, where he build and installed custom signage and displays. In 1996, he started working as a graphic designer at Concepts in Redondo Beach, designing logos, stationery, brochures, packaging, ads, signage and apparel.
After the owner of Concepts retired, Takamori returned to Stacy Dukes Design to assist in designing and constructing a series of public benches for the City of Manhattan Beach. Currently, he works as a freelance graphic designer.
Admission is $30 general, $20 for Beyond Baroque members, $10 for auditors. For more information, call (310) 822-3006, email [email protected] or visit www.beyondbaroque.org.