Begun two decades ago as a tanka sequence dedicated to Roy Lichtenstein, R. W. Watkins?s Waka-Cola is the long-awaited fourth title in the Poetical Perspectives series from Nocturnal Iris. Throughout the volume, Watkins pays tribute to most of the major American masters of 1950s and ?60s pop art and neo-dada, utilising the Japanese tanka?or waka?form of poetry to emulate their styles and concepts. Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Claes Oldenburg, James Rosenquist, George Segal and Ray Johnson are celebrated ever so imaginatively by Watkins, all the while adhering to the traditional 5-7-5-7-7 syllabic structure. The result is a short collection that both demonstrates the poet?s ability to transcend the perceived limits of the waka form, and serves as a poetic reflexion of the mid 20th century New York art scene. Highly visual in their application and pop-cultural in their subject matter, these poems foreshadow similar projects forthcoming in the PP series; so watch this space....

Waka-Cola: A Tanka Guide to Pop Art

Literature & Fiction

Watkins, R. W.

Poetry

lulu.com

In 1974, Laird Koenig published the novel The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane. A film version, directed by Nicolas Gessner and starring Jodie Foster, appeared two years later. A dramatic adaptation by Mr. Koenig was published decades after in 1997. Considered a one-of-a-kind thriller and cult classic, TLGWLDTL now undergoes a considerably extensive analysis by Canadian poet R. W. Watkins.A longtime fan of writer Koenig and actress Foster, Watkins examines the story from various angles, pointing out its Judeo/Christian themes, Holocaust symbolism, film continuity errors, similarities to Ayn Rand's objectivism, etc. Many of these essays originally appeared in Watkins's 2003 fanzine Cellar. Watkins drew upon TLGWLDTL for his 2005 haiku chapbook, New England Country Farmhouse. The introductory essay from that volume is collected in this book.Rewardingly eccentric, View From The Cellar is essential reading for any hardcore fan of Koenig's tale and 1970s pop culture in general.

View From The Cellar: A Critical Analysis of Laird Koenig's The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane

History & Criticism

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Eastern Structures picks up where Contemporary Ghazals left off, publishing English-language examples of the Middle Eastern form, but now in addition to Korean sijo and Japanese forms such as haiku and tanka -- rendered exclusively in the 5-7-5 and 5-7-5-7-7 syllabic structures. Issue 1 features the poetry of Denver Butson, William Dennis, L J McDowall, Priscilla Lignori, Clark Strand and Bill West among others; and the critical essays of R W Watkins and Jim Wilson. Issue 2 is expected in early Autumn, and submissions of traditionally structured Asian poetry and relevant non-fiction are welcome and encouraged.

Eastern Structures No. 1

Wilson, Jim

Strand, Clark

West, Bill

Horstmann, Steffen

Lignori, Priscilla

McDowall, L. J.

Eastern Structures picks up where Contemporary Ghazals left off, publishing English-language examples of the Middle Eastern form, but now in addition to Korean sijo and Japanese forms such as haiku and tanka -- rendered exclusively in the 5-7-5 and 5-7-5-7-7 syllabic structures. Issue 3 features the poetry of Steffen Horstmann, Eric Torgersen, Norma Jenckes, William Dennis, Eugene A Melino, Liùsaidh, Chi Holder, Priscilla Lignori, Clark Strand, Bill West and Craig W Steele, among others; and the critical essays of R W Watkins, L J MacDowall, and Jim Wilson. Also included is R K Singh’s tribute to noted ghazal poet I H Rizvi (1936–2015). Issue 4 is expected in late Summer 2017, and submissions of traditionally structured Asian poetry and relevant non-fiction are welcome and encouraged.

Eastern Structures No. 3 (Volume 1)

The world's premier publisher of Asian forms in English, Eastern Structures picks up where Contemporary Ghazals left off, publishing English-language examples of the Middle Eastern form, but now in addition to Korean sijo and Japanese forms such as haiku and tanka - rendered exclusively in the 5-7-5 and 5-7-5-7-7 syllabic structures. Issue 12 features the ghazals of Steffen Horstmann, William Dennis, Mace Hosseini, Denver Butson, Red Slider, Eric Torgersen, and others; the sijo of Tamara K. Walker, Edward Baranosky, Norma Jenckes, and several others; the haiku and tanka of Priscilla Lignori, Susan Tamara Darrow, Steve Denehan, Kiersta Recktenwald, Mark Ward, Jim Wilson, Ann Hills, Sari Grandstaff, and others; the essay 'Richard Wright: The Best American Haiku' by Odin H. Halvorson; and a review of Tamara K. Walker's recent volume of sijo, Fabric Heart, by R. W. Watkins.

Eastern Structures No. 12

Ward, Mark

Torgersen, Eric

Strahan, Bradley R.

Jenckes, Norma

Baranosky, Edward

Walker, Tamara K.

Butson, Denver

Hosseini, Mace

Independently published

The world’s premier publisher of Asian forms in English, Eastern Structures picks up where Contemporary Ghazals left off, publishing English-language examples of the Middle Eastern form, but now in addition to Korean sijo and Japanese forms such as haiku and tanka – rendered exclusively in the 5-7-5 and 5-7-5-7-7 syllabic structures. Issue 11 features the ghazals of Steffen Horstmann, William Dennis, Mace Hosseini, Simeon Dumdum Jr., R. W. Watkins, Denver Butson, Norma Jenckes, and Eric Torgersen; the sijo of Edward Baranosky, Tamara K. Walker, Pat Geyer, and Chi Holder; the haiku and senryu of Priscilla Lignori, James Lignori, Susan Tamara Darrow, Steve Denehan, Nicholas Alexander Hayes, Clark Strand, Ma. Milagros T. Dumdum, Debra Woolard Bender, JoAnn Passalaqua, Ann Hills, Michael Lustbader, Shelli Jankowski-Smith, John Martucci, Sari Grandstaff, Charles Kramer, and others; the essay ‘The Ecology of Formal Haiku’ by Jim Wilson; and a review of the recent collection 575: The Haiku of Basho (John White and Kemmyo Taira Sato, Eds.) by Jim Wilson. Issue 12 is expected in December of 2019, and submissions of traditionally structured Asian poetry and relevant non-fiction are welcome and encouraged.

Eastern Structures No. 11

Dennis, William

Denehan, Steve

Lignori, James

The world’s premier publisher of Asian forms in English, Eastern Structures picks up where Contemporary Ghazals left off, publishing English-language examples of the Middle Eastern form, but now in addition to Korean sijo and Japanese forms such as haiku and tanka -- rendered exclusively in the 5-7-5 and 5-7-5-7-7 syllabic structures. Issue 5 features the ghazals of Denver Butson, John Philip Drury, Steffen Horstmann, William Dennis, Eric Torgersen, Mindy Watson and editor R W Watkins; the sijo of Tamara K Walker, Chi Holder and Pat Geyer; the haiku of Mark Redfearn, Priscilla Lignori, James Lignori, Michael Lustbader, Ann Hills and several others; the third in a series of sijo essays by L J MacDowall; and an introduction to the Cambodian pathya vat by Bob Newman with exemplary contributions by Gareth Writer-Davies. Issue 6 is expected in late Winter or early Spring 2018, and submissions of traditionally structured Asian poetry and relevant non-fiction are welcome and encouraged

Eastern Structures No. 5

Rûmî

Hills, Anne

Drury, John Philip

The Complete Eastern Structures / Volume One provides the newcomer an excellent opportunity to own the first five issues of R. W. Watkins’s groundbreaking magazine in one handy 8.5” × 11” collection. Born out of the ashes of Watkins’s Contemporary Ghazals, Eastern Structures is the only English-language print magazine dedicated exclusively to several major Asian verse forms. Always true to form, ES publishes the most accurate representations of the ghazal, sijo, haiku and tanka in English today. Also featuring essays and editorials, this collection offers an excellent cross section of the best work from the past two years by some of the premier poets working in such forms. Among others, Steffen Horstmann, Denver Butson, William Dennis, L. J. McDowall, Priscilla Lignori, Mark Redfearn, Clark Strand and Watkins himself are all well represented. Issues One to Five of Eastern Structures are still available individually from Amazon.

The Complete Eastern Structures / Volume One: Nos. 1--5

Redfearn, Mark

Eastern Structures No. 24

Lee, Emma

Taylor, Sarah

Zumpe, Lee Clark

Berglund, Jerome

Gordon, Myles

Baglow, John

Bryan, Corey

Eastern Structures No. 19

Writer-Davies, Gareth

Jankowski-Smith, Shelli

St. Claire, Joshua

Woerner, Danielle

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