1 March 2026
4 unique short form genres created by ai li
that honour storytelling and keep its breath alive
Cherita [b. 22 June 1997]
Gembun [b. 12 June 1997]
Dua [b. 4 March 2022]
Ta Da [b. 15 May 2022]
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searching
cherita 108
edited by ai li
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wildflowers
dua anthology 18
edited by ai li
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updates on all forthcoming dua and gembun anthologies
and our exciting the cherita award
For those of you who missed reading ai li’s essay i, storyteller on Cherita, Gembun and Dua on Rhyvers and viewing her You Tube Cherita video interview for The Wise Owl by Neena Singh, for their special issue on Cherita, here are both links again below.
Here are ai li’s You Tube interview link : www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnGmkKKQvqo
and the link for her essay i, storyteller on Cherita, Gembun and Dua
rhyvers.com/hk22/
The full transcripts for both can be found on www.thecherita.com/lectures/ as well on the Rhyvers and The Wise Owl’s websites.
There are now over 6200 views for my Rhyvers essay on Cherita, Gembun and Dua, which appeared on 16 September 2023, with 4000 views the last time I looked, for my You Tube video Cherita interview, which appeared on 30 September 2023, and which The Wise Owl’s Editor Rachna Singh called ‘insightful’.
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Book 108 of the cherita – searching is for your March 2026 reading and wildflowers is our dua anthology 18, both of which are imbued with 90 virgin poems.
There are now 108 anthologies of the cherita, and they are all available on Amazon in paperback and kindle, along with 21 Gembun Anthologies, and 18 Dua Anthologies, with more coming your way.
searching is our Book 108 in the cherita series of storytelling books, with 90 virgin cherita of more timeless stories to hopefully inspire our readers and poets to join our caravanserai of storytellers.
searching, Book 108, belongs to the ongoing the cherita series, as do ai li’s personal ongoing writing in one breath series of 36 virgin Cherita, Gembun, Dua, Ta Da, Cherita and Tanka, Cherita and Haiku, and Cherita, Tanka and Haiku books, and lastly ai li’s poems for inner rooms series with its 18 Tanka and Haiku books. All these books are available in paperback and kindle on Amazon.
Two of my own books of virgin Gembun, the weight of rain and blank screen, my two books of Dua, the journey east and dancing shoes, and arriving nowhere, my first cherita, gembun and dua book, along with another night and leaving, my two ta da anthologies now join my writing in one breath series.
I have edited searching as I have all the other anthologies 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 anthology :-
ai li/ Joanna Ashwell/ Jackie Chou/ Kathabela Wilson/ Lee Hudspeth/ Sigrid Saradunn/ Teri Messmer/ Nicholas Gentile/ Taura Scott/ Sharon Hawley/ Patricia Allen Smith/ Jennifer Gurney/ Lakshman Bulusu/ William Scott Galasso/ Partha Sarkar/ Larry Kimmel/ D’ellen/ Dan Schwerin/ Orrin Préjean/ Katherine E Winnick/ Roy Kindelberger/ Pitt Büerken/
Six sample virgin Cherita from this anthology :-
searching
back there
for a way
to find you
my heart
the only light
Joanna Ashwell
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on
a wet day
i’m in bed
a survivor
from
the night before
ai li
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sensing a presence
standing in golden light
at the foot of my bed
my mother as she was
in her late twenties
silently, do not mourn, I am fine
William Scott Galasso
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empty chairs
facing
the lily pond
occupied
by you and me
another lifetime
Jackie Chou
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super moon
pink
in full bloom
a smile for
healing
the world
Taura Scott
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the
level crossing
is sad
it’s
down
in rain
Partha Sarkar
the cherita lighthouse has been awarded to the following writers and poets in this anthology for their timeless Cherita :
Joanna Ashwell/ Teri Messmer/ Jackie Chou/ Orrin Préjean/ Dan Schwerin/ Taura Scott/ Sharon Hawley/ Patricia Allen Smith/
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wildflowers is our dua anthology 18 and it appears alongside searching, Book 108 of the cherita, this month.
wildflowers showcases 90 virgin dua.
Six sample virgin dua from wildflowers, our dua anthology 18 :-
everyday miracle
the colour of a tulip in sunlight
Jan Stretch
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i couldn’t tell a lie
but i could tell a wild story
James Haddad
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my paintbrush
dipped in rainbows
Kathabela Wilson
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in the garden
birdsong
Jackie Chou
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autumn
her final offerings
Paulette Calasibetta
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then
rain comes
ai li
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a dua bella has been awarded to the following writers and poets in this anthology for dua that shone :
Paulette Calasibetta/ Jan Stretch/ Kathabela Wilson/ Jackie Chou/ Bryan Rickert/ Michael H. Brownstein/ Partha Sarkar/ Shravan/ Pitt Büerken/
Please use our standard submission emails for all 4 of our genres as I consider them separately. Failure to do so can cause a delay in replying to your submissions.
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I have enjoyed the challenge of selecting and collating for this edition of the cherita and of any other new books from either our 1-2-3 press or our the empty press, and hope that you will find the poems within worthy of a campfire gathering and the sharing of meaningful stories.
If our new book or books strikes or strike a chord with you, please feel free to review, comment on Amazon or give feedback directly to me. It would be much appreciated. Many thanks.
ai li
editor
creator of cherita, gembun, dua and ta da
and of 18 other unique and original linked forms
www.thecherita.com
storyteller oasis
copyright © ai li 2026