Saeko Ogi is a tanka poet and tanka translator.  Born in Tokyo, Saeko has lived in Canberra since 1972.  She is a member of the Araragi-ha Tanka Society in Japan since 2003 and facilitator of a tanka group in Canberra CJC Bluebells Tanka Group.

In December last year she published in Japan, her original collection in Japanese titled ‘Michibata no Ishi’.  It features an array of Japanese poems and travels from her life in Japan to her more recent experiences in Australia.   ‘Rock by the Roadside’ is an English version of this original book, translated by Amelia Fielden, a Donald Keene Award winner.

Saeko’s tanka collection, ‘Michibata no Ishi,’ has been received favourable reviews; it was presented in the ‘Monthly Topic’ of Tanka ÅŒ-rai, a Tanka Journal and also in the daily column of The Yomiuri Shimbun, one of the major Japanese national daily newspapers:

with their great bills
resting on their chests,
pelicans
in contemplation …
and you in deep thought

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