Forest I Know

By Kala Ramesh

Tanka, a 1300-year-old, five-line lyrical form of poetry from Japan, was originally called 'waka', which translates as 'short song'. The Forest I Know, Kala Ramesh's first book in this genre, consists mainly of tanka, tanka prose and tanka doha. With stunningly bold and beautiful poems encompassing every facet of our day-to-day living, this book is at once ancient and modern, enduring and unforgettable - and is sure to resonate with the reader.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins India
• Release date: Aug 7, 2021
• ISBN: 9789354227905

Kala Ramesh

Founder and director of Triveni Haikai India and haikuKATHA  Journal, and a Pushcart Prize nominee, Kala Ramesh conceptualised Triveni Gurukulam Mentorship Program 2021; editor-in-chief of the award-winning Naad Anunaad: An Anthology of Contemporary World Haiku (Vishwakarma 2016); author of Haiku! an award-winning illustrated children's book (Katha 2010, reprinted in 2017.) Her book Beyond the Horizon Beyond (Vishwakarma) was shortlisted for the Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize (2019). Kala authored The Forest I Know, (HarperCollins, August 2021) and co-edited the anthology Amber I Pause (Hawakal 2023).  An external faculty member of Symbiosis International University Pune, Kala taught the 60-hour haikai course to undergraduates from 2012 to 2021- The first in her country! To bring haiku into everyday spaces, she has initiated several projects and organised eight haiku conferences in India. She has conducted haiku, tanka and haibun workshops for the public and haiku enthusiasts for the past 17 years - the latest being at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, on 6th February 2023, where the organisers had to put up the "Haiku Housefull" board outside the venue! Haiku Poets of Northern California invited Kala to talk about the ‘state' of Haiku in India on 19 March 2023. The link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aG8VI6jBEuc&t=30s  

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