1 February 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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forest dreaming
cherita 107
edited by ai li
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will he be back ?
gembun anthology 21
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 6000 views for my Rhyvers essay on Cherita, Gembun and Dua, which appeared on 16 September 2023, with 3900 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 107 of the cherita – forest dreaming is for your February 2026 reading and will he be back ? is our gembun anthology 21, both of which are imbued with 90 virgin poems.
There are now 107 anthologies of the cherita, and they are all available on Amazon in paperback and kindle, along with 21 Gembun Anthologies, and 17 Dua Anthologies, with more coming your way.
forest dreaming is our Book 107 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.
forest dreaming, Book 107, 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.
# For all acceptance letters for Cherita before 7 April 2025, for our forthcoming Anthologies – Books 103, 104, 105 and 106, please be aware that your acceptance letters should have read ‘for the fourth quarter 2025 and not ‘for the first quarter of 2026’. Your accepted cherita will now appear much earlier. Please accept my sincere apologies. I will have to have a serious word with my Dyslexia. #
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 forest dreaming 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/ Lakshman Bulusu/ Lee Hudspeth/ Kathabela Wilson/ Partha Sarkar/ Jackie Chou/ Teri Messmer/ Taura Scott/ Eva Joan/ Djurdja Vukelic Rozic/ Senka Slivar/ Timothy Daly/ Sigrid Saradunn/ Joanna Ashwell/ Orrin Préjean/ Nicholas Gentile/ Pitt Büerken/ Michael H. Brownstein/ Patricia Allen Smith/ Jennifer Gurney/ William Scott Galasso/ D’ellen/ Sharon Hawley/
Six sample virgin Cherita from this anthology :-
chimney smoke
i saw you
forty two years ago
that first smell
of autumn
now in my dreams
ai li
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on
gray
rocks
spruce trees
rustle to
the stars
Djurdja Vukelic Rozic
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this dewdrop world
sliding down
into another
the long leaf
that makes a bridge
to the future
Kathabela Wilson
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every day
will you check
for the sunflower
turning
back across
our footsteps
Joanna Ashwell
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opening my eyes
in the morning
the old
rocking chair
is barely moving
who is watching me sleep..
Teri Messmer
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without
crutches
a
free
flying
kite
Partha Sarkar
the cherita lighthouse has been awarded to the following writers and poets in this anthology for their timeless Cherita :
Kathabela Wilson/ Timothy Daly/ Sigrid Saradunn/ Joanna Ashwell/ Nicholas Gentile/ Jackie Chou/ Djurdja Vukelic Rozic/ Senka Slivar/
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will he be back ? is our gembun anthology 21 and it appears alongside forest dreaming, Book 107 of the cherita, this month.
will he be back ? showcases 90 virgin gembun
Six sample virgin gembun from will he be back ?, our gembun anthology 21 :-
locked away
the times
when sound
had no echo
Joanna Ashwell
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daisies
grow wild
wave beside the road
he remembers only love
Sigrid Saradunn
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the joy
the sadness
the passion
of a flamenco dancer
Jan Stretch
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cool evening walk
taking a
deep breath
of jasmine
Kathabela Wilson
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he’s never home these days
the scent
of lonely nights
called hope
ai li
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alone
I wrap
myself
in dreams
Katherine E Winnick
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a gem has been awarded to the following writers and poets in this anthology for gembun that sparkled :
Patricia Allen Smith/ Kathabela Wilson/ Jackie Chou/ Katherine E Winnick/ Partha Sarkar/ Pitt Büerken/ Jan Stretch/ Michael H. Brownstein/
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