History of Tanka in English

No, this won't be a post about the history of tanka in English, in spite of the title. That article will be posted to Modern English Tanka, probably the Winter issue (next issue). However, since posting the previous numbers regarding publications, I have learned about many more tanka books, chapbooks, calendars, broadsides, CDs, and other publications over the years. Here are the revised numbers:

pre-1915 0
1915-19 3
1920-24 1
1920-29 1
1930-34 0
1935-39 0
1940-44 2
1945-49 1
1950-54 2
1955-59 4
1960-64 1
1965-69 1
1970-74 6
1975-79 7
1980-84 3
1985-89 0
1990-94 17
1995-99 50
2000-04 73
2005-09 45
Total 217

Notice how in 1990 tanka publication took off. Yet there is a perception that there's not very much interest or market for tanka as compared to haiku. Somebody has got to be buying these books. What's also interesting is how the tanka genre has evolved over time, but for perspicacious observations on the subject, along with a naming of titles and authors you'll have to wait for my article to come out in Modern English Tanka.

~K~