David Prater and Keiji Minato have been kind enough to ask me to lead a ‘Zombie Renga' and I'm very happy to accept such a wonderful offer! So welcome those of you who are new to renga, and welcome back to those of you who participated in Cordite's inaugural Haikunaut Island Renga last year!

Before I get into the details of what we're looking for in this renga, I'd like to direct writers to the following links, which I urge you to spend some time reading.

First the highly informative and illuminating notes written by Keiji Minato, on modern haiku and renga/renku. Even if you're not new to haiku or renku, and even if you were part of the wonderful experience of composing a renku under Keiji's leadership here last year, I'd recommend revisiting his notes, not in the least for the fantastic translations.

Next, it's worth visiting David Lanoue's introduction to the Haikunaut issue of cordite, an then to move on to the renku itself – you can see the notes and selections, which will give newcomers a real insight to the process and what's involved for our upcoming zombie renga.

You will have noticed that I'm using the terms renga and renku interchangeably, but please check Keiji's notes if you'd like to read a little about the difference. For us, they can mean the same thing, linked verse, or, linked haiku.

Our Zombie Haikunaut Renga will be in the kasen renga form containing 36 verses, so we have an excellent opportunity to really stretch out and take some chances with the theme. I think we've got an exciting, modern renku in the making so let's make it somethin' else!

When submitting your ku, I think it'd be best for us to work under the following guidelines to keep things open, fair and as participatory as possible, but also to balance this with variety and manageability:

1. A limit of 3 submissions per writer per round/verse position
2. Each writer can have up to 3 pieces selected for inclusion in the whole renga
3. Verses will alternate between 3 lines (long) and 2 lines (short)
4. Because it's a themed renga, the seasonal verse positions will not be strict. I'll advise after selection of each verse if I'm looking for something specific next time, though I'll certainly make sure moon references and blossom verses are called for.
5. Expect a verse turnaround of 1-3 days, though I'll be doing my best to aim for 2. This should allow writers from different time zones to have a chance to submit.
6. The traditional 5-7-5 (three lines long) or 7-7 (two lines short) syllable count in a haiku (not always completely natural in English language) is not mandatory; in fact, anywhere between 10-15 syllables in total ought to be an acceptable compromise. (Japanese sound units or morae are different to English syllables).
7. And finally, jump in with your comments! If you like a verse let your fellow writers know, as Keiji said in the Haikunaut, both the writing and the reading of renku is participating.

We will begin the Zombie Haikunaut Renga with a brilliant verse (or ‘Zomku') from Scott Thouard. Please submit some verses for position 2, and remember, the key to renku is that it is always looking forward thematically. Link to Scott's verse but move us forward too – to borrow Keiji's phrase from his notes on renku: ‘link and leap.'

Are you ready for Zombie Haikunaut Renga?