1 November 2026
4 unique short form genres created by ai li
that honour storytelling and keep its breath alive
Cherita [created on 22 June 1997]
Gembun [created on 12 June 1997]
Dua [created on 4 March 2022]
Ta Da [created on 15 May 2022]
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that summer garden
cherita 116
edited by ai li
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is this nirvana ?
tada anthology 5
edited by ai li
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updates on all forthcoming dua, gembun and ta da 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 8300 views for my Rhyvers essay on Cherita, Gembun and Dua, which appeared on 16 September 2023, with 5000 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’.
For your November reading, I have that summer garden, Book 116 of the cherita, and is this nirvana ? our tada anthology 5.
There are now 116 anthologies of the cherita, along with 23 Gembun Anthologies, 20 Dua Anthologies, and 5 Ta Da anthologies, with more coming your way. All these anthologies are available in paperback and kindle on Amazon.
that summer garden is our Book 116 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.
that summer garden showcases 90 fine cherita and cherita terbalik from writers and poets who hail from UK, USA, Singapore, Japan, Germany, Canada, India, Croatia and Pakistan.
that summer garden, Book 116, 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.
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.t
I have edited this anthology 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/ Jackie Chou/ Kathabela Wilson,/ Sharon Hawley/ Taura Scott/ Joanna Ashwell/ Rita Melissano/ Kazuaki Wakui/ Eva Joan/ Jan Stretch/ Jim Niffen/ Sigrid Saradunn/ Lee Hudspeth/ Lakshman Bulusu/ Partha Sarkar/ Rachael Thorp/ Nicholas Gentile/ James Haddad/ Katherine E Winnick/ Senka Slivar/ Jennifer Gurney/ Travis Park/ Patricia Allen Smith/ Laughing waters/ Jackie Chou/ Teri Messmer/ Hifsa Ashraf/
Six sample virgin Cherita from this anthology :-
slipped away
the last leaf fallen
gone
her palette of hues
that painted
my world
Nicholas Gentile
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falling from
her child-size
hands
her dreams
of
flowered meadows
Rachael Thorp
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letting go
layer
upon
layer
the
lessons
Jan Stretch
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before you leave
tell my heart
how it should go on
living
without
you
Eva Joan
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patiently
i’ll lie
here
until you leave
and they come
to fill the hole
Jim Niffen
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meditating
at dawn
i find nirvana
for a split second
a mountain stream
and i become one
Katherine E Winnick
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the cherita lighthouse has been awarded to the following writers and poets in this anthology for their timeless Cherita :
Kathabela Wilson, Sharon Hawley, Taura Scott/ Joanna Ashwell/ Nicholas Gentile/ Travis Park/ James Haddad/ Patricia Allen Smith/ Jackie Chou/ Partha Sarkar/
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This is November’s update on the cherita award :
Here are 6 of my published cherita below from Atlas Poetica 38.
www.thecherita.com/bookshop/ :
cherita
is
the breath
of
a story
made concrete
ai li
from the intro of the word healers
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If anyone is seriously considering to write Cherita well, my advice is for you to get hold of a copy of either one or both of our Cherita Award books or any of my own books which will help as reference guides for widening the storytelling scope for creating timeless Cherita.
I hope these cherita below will further inspire you, should you decide to submit your virgin cherita for the cherita award. We also now have Joanna Ashwell and Ceri Marriott, our first two Cherita Award recipients with river lanterns and soirée, their respective books. Who will be our next Cherita Award poet?
a box of chocolates
left
on her bed
the window open
with
a full moon
ai li
from atlas poetica 38
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she kills herself
and no one noticed for months
a found photograph
of a woman
in her prime
having a group hug
ai li
from atlas poetica 38
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how does this story end ?
badly you say
empty boxes
of discarded tissues
the window
wet with rain
ai li
from atlas poetica 38
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feeling the weight
of your loss
lonely nights
my lips on
a soundless
harmonica
ai li
from atlas poetica 38
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the washing is in
the storm here
finish that song
about
washing that man
right out of my hair
ai li
from atlas poetica 38
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lonely hearts ad
she circles
the box numbers
of seven lonely men
a week in bed
would be nice
ai li
from atlas poetica 38
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For all new entrants, please be aware that fewer words in your cherita are always more, and to not repeat a subject matter often, unless of course you are able to come to it from a very different angle or perspective, rendering it anew. You want your portfolio to be one of timelessness and wonder, and to avoid a sameyness of subject matter which would inevitably make your portfolio bland and yawn inducing.
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CURRENT SUBMISSION GUIDELINES NOVEMBER 2026
Please can you now submit all of your submissions in Arial 11 font size, left justified with no italics, and also use our standard submission email for all our genres. This will be in effect as of now.
You will still be required to fill in your hometown/city and country with all submissions [this info is for our files] but only your country will be published in our books from this edition onwards. This will help speed up my proof reading.
There are also no longer any deadlines for submissions which are now on an ongoing basis.
*Please use our standard email submissions forms for each of our 4 genres and do not lump them together under one submission email. Unfortunately, failure to do so often results in a slower response back from me as I read, consider and file all the 4 genres separately and any deviations get placed under a different file.*
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General Information on the Cherita, Gembun, Dua and Ta Da Anthologies
All our anthologies have 90 poems within.
I am endeavouring to launch the finished and checked anthologies, as you have all been saints with your inspirational patience.
I would also like to profusely thank all the poets whose gembun, dua and ta da have been selected for the forthcoming anthologies for being so patient.
My wish, as I have indicated before, is for all Anthologies to become a fluid and ongoing series for showcasing the best of the Cherita, Gembun, Dua and Ta Da genres with the gems from your writing. That has not changed.
Gembun and Cherita share the same year of birth and hopefully they will continue to celebrate storytelling with Life, Love, Loss and Renewal into and beyond their third decade.
Dua and Ta Da may not have been around as long as Gembun and Cherita, but they are part and parcel of a storytelling quartet that perpetuates the stories of Life, Love, Loss and Renewal.
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.
Cherita, Gembun, Dua and Ta Da all require very different mental disciplines when writing them well. When the right discipline is used to pen these genres, the results are simply breathtaking.
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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 this 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