True Colour
City of Redmond, Redmond, Washington, 2014, 66 pages.
The following solo rengay all appeared in my poetry book, True Colour, published in December of 2014 by the City of Redmond, Washington, as part of my tenure as the city’s poet laureate. Twelve of this art book’s thirteen rengay focus on an individual colour. I had already written the “Blue” rengay in 2001, but the idea occurred to me in July of 2013 to write solo rengay about each primary colour, which expanded to other colours as well. Click the following links to read each rengay (on my Rengay website). Please also read the book’s introduction, “An Invitation to Rengay,” and its brief tutorial, “How to Write a Rengay.” Learn more about this poetry form on Rengay Essays page. You can also read blurbs and comments about the book below, and watch a video of me reading from True Colour at the launch reading held in the City of Redmond council chambers on 6 December 2014. If you might be interested in ordering a copy of the book, please contact Michael Dylan Welch. + + +
About the Book
True Colour is bound in an unusual way, with a screw or pin in the bottom-right corner. This pin lets you fan all the pages out like a painter’s swatch, with abstract colour photos interspersing all the rengay poems. This design came out of a brainstorming meeting I had with Joshua Heim, Redmond arts administrator, and Jessica Rubenacker, Redmond arts coordinator. With our idea in mind, Dan D Shafer of Dandy Design orchestrated the book, using his photographs to alternate with the poems. I’m particularly grateful to Dan for overseeing the book’s design and typography, for his intriguing photographs, and for supervising the printing and production. The book was printed in a limited edition of 500 numbered copies.
Also included with the book was an instruction sheet for hosting a rengay party, writing rengay, and submitting rengay to the Twitter hashtag #redmondrengay or emailing it to the city of Redmond. This invitation sought to engage city residents and visitors in writing linked haiku in the rengay form.
Blurbs and Comments
“Michael Dylan Welch weaves the colors of life into a wide-ranging tapestry of surprising juxtapostions. It its celebration of the rengay form, True Colour offers a multihued palette of well-written and well-crafted poems.” —Garry Gay, inventor of the rengay poetry form
“Michael Dylan Welch’s colorful suite of rengay represents the full spectrum of human experience parceled into intimate moments. His concise verses transform images of surprise, humor, sorrow, appreciation, loss, and joy into poignant epiphanies.” —Lana Hechtman Ayers, editor and publisher, MoonPath Press
“I read the whole rainbow—wonderful!” —Pamela Cooper, Montréal, Québec
Book-Launch Reading
A reading to launch the publication of True Colour was held in the City of Redmond council chambers on 6 December 2014 as part of the city’s annual Redmond Lights festival. Click the picture to view the invitation poster in a larger size, and see the following YouTube video of the reading (first twenty minutes), recorded by Jessica Rubenacker. See also publicity on the Boynton Blog and the Facebook event invitation. Thanks to all who were able to come to support my poetry and this new book, and thank you to the City of Redmond for underwriting this publication.
