2022 – Cherita and Gembun’s Silver Jubilee year
22 June 1997 – 22 June 2022

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stranded
edition #5:10 of the cherita
edited by ai li

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March is here and soon the daffodils will yellow my urban walks with their confident stance.

My dream for this moment in time is for the appearance of the white doves of peace.

This edition of stranded showcases 92 fine cherita and cherita terbalik from writers and poets who hail from UK, USA, Singapore, New Zealand, Philippines, India, Trinidad, Australia and Germany.

stranded is our third book for Cherita’s Silver Jubilee Year of 2022. This is also our 60th edition in the cherita series of storytelling books.

 

stranded

 

www.thecherita.com/announcements/

www.thecherita.com/bookshop/

 

Here’s a further update on the proposed Gembun Anthology – I’ve added Gembun Terbalik to the submissions’ guidelines for the Gembun Anthology. I have been experimenting with writing in 3-1 for gembun terbalik, found it addictive, and have therefore decided to add this to the official Gembun guidelines. Submissions for the Anthology continue to come in and the quality of work leaves me with an unenviable and difficult task of the final selection of Gembun for the Anthology.

Do keep sending in more of your timeless Gembun as I have started to select and collate for Anthology 2 as well as for Anthology 1.

If you continue to submit and send in excellent Gembun, the Anthology could well be on its way to becoming a series for showcasing the best of the Gembun genre.

Gembun and Cherita share the same year of birth and they will be celebrating storytelling with Life, Love, Loss and Renewal this jubilee year and hopefully beyond.

Full details on the link below if you have not, as yet, sent in your Gembun for consideration.

www.thecherita.com/gembun/

 

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wishbone

there’s only
ever
one winner

ai li
a gembun from the weight of rain

and
a gembun terbalik :

the
love letter
never sent

chanel no. 5

ai li

The Gembun was created on 12 June 1997 and Cherita on 22 June 1997, and they will both celebrate their silver jubilee in June 2022. Gembun is also a minimal and unique linked form that consists of either a one-word or one sentence first link, followed by a haiku of up to 4 lines. Gembun has to include an element of suggestion in either the opening sentence/link, the haiku or in both.

Gembun Terbalik now joins this minimal form and is an inverted Gembun. It is written with a haiku of 1 – 3 lines as its opening stanza and then capped by a one liner. Six new virgin examples of mine can be seen on www.thecherita.com/gembun/

The Gembun and Gembun Terbalik have to include an element of suggestion in either the opening sentence or haiku, the haiku or opening sentence or in both. Gembun was created by ai li on the 12 June 1997, inspired by Larry Kimmel’s TIBUN. www.aili.co.uk/gembun/

 

Fine examples by Larry Kimmel, Joanna Ashwell and myself can be found, along with Gembun’s original guidelines on my personal website www.aili.co.uk

 

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stranded belongs to the ongoing the cherita series, currently 60th on the list, as do my personal ongoing writing in one breath series of 23 virgin Cherita, Cherita and Tanka, Cherita and Haiku, and Cherita, Tanka and Haiku books, and lastly my poems for inner rooms series with its 18 Tanka and Haiku books. All these editions are available in paperback and kindle on Amazon.

I have edited this edition as I have all the other editions of the cherita, to be experienced two ways. It can be read as one storybook but also as an anthology of individual poems. Two reading experiences within one book, filled with stories of Life, Love, Loss and Renewal.

cherita terbalik continues to capture the imagination of poets and there are again fine examples in this edition.

Featured Poets as they appear in this edition :-

Cynthia Anderson/ Patricia Prime/ Jackie Chou/ Kath Abela Wilson/ Bryan Rickert/ Robert Horrobin/ ai li/ Taura Scott/ steve black/ Madeleine Basa Vinluan/ Larry Kimmel/ S. Radhamani/ James Haddad/ Barun Saha/ Gillena Cox/ Ram Chandran/ Keith Evetts/ Madhuri Pillai/ Stella Damarjati/ Connie Pittman Ramsey/ Sherry Grant/ eva joan/ Tim Gardiner/ M.J.Iuppa/ Sarah Davies/ Grace Galton/ Susan Burch/ Keitha Keyes/ Neena Singh/ Ruth Kay/ Joanne Ashwell/ Alan Peat/ Peter Jastermsky/ Lorraine A Padden/ Richa Sharma/ Partha Sarkar/ Afta Gley/ paula song sarmonpal/ Mona Bedi/ George Schaefer/ Laughing waters/

A SAMPLE from this edition :-

 

daybreak

rising
before me

I walk out
into a sky
of birds

Cynthia Anderson

 

The cherita lighthouse has been awarded to the following writers and poets in this edition for their timeless Cherita :

Jackie Chou/ Kath Abela Wilson/ Robert Horrobin/ steve black/ Larry Kimmel/ Madeleine Basa Vinluan/ Barun Saha/ Patricia Prime/ Gillena Cox/ Ram Chandran/ Connie Pittman Ramsey/ Keith Evetts/ Sarah Davies/ Ruth Kay/ Joanna Ashwell/ Peter Jastermsky/ Partha Sarkar/ Taura Scott/ Cynthia Anderson/

stranded has been edited to be experienced two ways. It can be read as a storybook and as an anthology of individual poems.

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I have enjoyed the challenge of selecting and collating for this edition of the cherita and hope that you will find the cherita within worthy of a campfire gathering and the sharing of meaningful stories.

If this new edition strikes a chord with you, please feel free to review, comment on Amazon or give a feedback directly to me. Many thanks.

ai li
editor
www.thecherita.com
storyteller oasis