The Editor

Hello from Alison Williams, founding editor of Quail Eggs

In 1998 I discovered haiku while searching for something else on the internet and was fascinated by it. I later found a special attraction to the closely related form of tanka. In 2017 I became tanka editor for Presence, which has always been my favourite journal. I post my published work, after publication, on my blog Miso Soup.

I am a retired university librarian, now full time poet, and I live with the chronic illness known as ME. I have to manage my energy carefully and so this journal is online only and the layout is designed to be as simple as possible. This seems happily consistent with the aesthetics of tanka.  

My tanka preferences 

I enjoy, and would like to showcase, a variety of styles of tanka but I tend to prefer those that have a strong sensory appeal. In terms of subject matter, I don't see any need to limit that, our lived experience includes everything from the personal to the political to the transcendent. I've noticed a tendency for English language tanka to be seen as more soft, flowing and feminine than haiku, which I feel is unnecessarily limiting. I like to see both yin and yang expressed in tanka.