This week has seen the culmination of a major project here in the Catchment website. Receiving very positive feedback, Tanka Tones has involved fortnightly postings of a total of 9 sets of recorded readings of poems in this short Japanese-based verse-form.
All poems chosen by our editorial team came from the first 5 editions of the journal, with recordings commencing in late December 2025.
After technical issues were overcome in editing audio files, postings began on 28 March – in concluding on 28 July, the project has spanned another 4 months.
Strongest thanks goes to Paul Strickland from 3BBR-FM for recording & editing, as well as to Mike Ogden from Bbaa IT, for regularly posting new streams on our site.
Gratitude likewise goes out to all members of the reading team, plus the poets who have had tanka included, along with all listeners!
Tanka Tones can be accessed through clicking on the blue button labelled as such here on our own homepage, or alternatively through the Bbaa Listener Page, on the homepage for the larger Arts Alliance website itself.
Following on from an earlier project recording readings of longer poems, called Catchment Voices, Tanka Tones has involved a set of rotations through a team of 6 readers, with 4 taking part each time.
Reading team members have included: Robyn Cairns, Louise Hopewell & Jennifer Sutherland (all contributors to our journal, from the Melbourne-based haiku group Fringe Myrtles); plus Jennifer Fell (one of the co-editors for longer poetry, in the Catchment team); as well as me, as editor/ curator; along with Peter Cooke (a writer/ photographer from West Gippsland with a strong interest in poetry).
Presented in groups of 4 or 5 each fortnight, the 43 poets with work included have come from a range of Australian states/ territories/ regions, including Gippslanders & other Victorians, extending to the ACT, NSW & Tasmania:
Wanda Amos
Maeve Archibald
Gavin Austin
Gwen Bitti
David Briese
Robyn Cairns
Agi Dobson
Jennifer Fell
Gina
Nicoletta Glod
Pip Griffin
Lorraine Haig
Hazel Hall
Jeannie Haughton
Ayesha Hayes
Andrew Hede
Louise Hopewell
Marilyn Humbert
Samantha Sirimanne Hyde
Bradlee Jennings
Colleen Keating
Keitha Keyes
Kate King
Thomas Landgraf
Hemat Malak
Susan Manley
Jo McInerney
Glenn McPherson
Heather McRae
Jan O’Loughlin
Gregory Piko
Madhuri Pillai
Vanessa Proctor
Kent Robinson
Margaret Ruckert
Pat Saunders
Carmel Summers
Jennifer Sutherland
Julie Tawse
Tuyet Van Do
Jo Whitelaw
Rodney Williams
Tony Steven Williams
We hope that your own experience of Tanka Tones proves to be rewarding, while encouraging you to share this listening opportunity further with family, friends & associates!
Rodney Williams
Editor
Catchment – Poetry of Place
Curator
Tanka Tones