When I edited Magma 34 I was thrilled to publish the first translations in the UK of tanka by Machi Tawara.
Tawara is a superstar in her native Japan – her first book, Salad Anniversary, sold over 2.5 million copies and she’s a familiar face to TV audiences as well as poetry readers.
This Sunday (2.30pm 14 July) she is reading at the Ledbury Poetry Festival, so if you’re lucky enough to be going, put her reading on your festival schedule.
Whether or not you’re going to Ledbury, check out some superb translations of Tawara’s tanka by Quentin S. Crisp, on the Magma blog and the Poetry Library archive of Magma 34.