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Thanks to Poetry Pea’s host Alex and to the poets from India who came along to tell us about Triveni Haikai India and read some of their poetry for us.
Thanks to Triveni Haikai India who collaborated with Poetry Pea on this episode.
You will find our more about the poets in their bios, their poems will also feature in the Poetry Pea Journal 5:24. Follow this link to Triveni Haiku India.
Enjoy!
Our Host today was Alex Massey and the poets who joined him:
- Muskaan Ahuja
- Neha R. Krishna
- Iqra Raza
- Sankara Jayanth Sudanagunta
- Srini
- Saumya Bansal
- Shreya Narang
- Surashree Ulhas Joshi
- Tanvi Nishchal
- Raghav Prashant Sundar
- Namratha Varadharajan
Bios
Muskaan Ahuja:
Muskaan Ahuja, the host of the thinkALONG! feature of Triveni Haikai India, has a deep appreciation for food, art, poetry and books that nourish her mind and warm her heart. She writes haiku, senryu, tanka and other forms of Japanese poetry. Her poems have appeared in journals and anthologies such as Late Blooming Cherries, Poetry Pea, amber i pause, Frogpond, Failed Haiku, Wales Haiku Journal, Bottlerockets, Asahi Haikuist Network, The Haiku Foundation, and The Cherita. Muskaan strives to write poems that are simple yet profound enough to strike a chord with every reader. Among over 800 poems inspired by Japanese woodblock prints, her haiku was chosen for the Bristol Museum & Art Gallery in the UK in 2019. Her haiku were nominated for the Touchstone Award and Red Moon Anthology 2023. She also holds an Honourable Mention in THF Monthly Kukai. She lives in Chandigarh, India.
Neha R. Krishna:
Neha R. Krishna is a Mumbai-based poet and translator currently working as a creative writer with Pocket FM. She has translated Gulzar’s Triveni into English Tanka and authored “No Urgency to Be Home,” a collection of Haiku and Tanka. Her poems have been published in various journals and competitions, including Under the Basho, Presence, Frogpond, Haiku Masters – Japan, Failed Haiku, Human/Kind Journal, Frameless Sky, Haiku Foundation, Bones Journal, Prune Juice Journal, Moonbathing Journal, Wild Plum Journal, Golden Haiku Competition, Asahi Haiku Network – Japan, and Contemporary Haibun Online.
Iqra Raza:
Iqra Raza is a PhD student in the English department at the University of Houston where her research is situated at the intersection of law and literature. In terms of creative work, she writes haiku and free verse, for which she has won three international awards, and takes an active interest in sketching and painting. Her haiku can be found in Modern Haiku, Cattails, haikuKATHA, and Failed Haiku among others
Sankara Jayanth Sudanagunta:
Sankara Jayanth Sudanagunta is a poet and artist from Hyderabad, India. Basho’s haiku inspire him to look closely at nature and revel in its paradoxical simplicity and complexity. Issa’s haiku inspire him to appreciate all life with a sensitivity we afford to our own. To one day write haiku like these great Japanese masters is a life long goal that he intends to pursue. His artworks appear in the newly published haiku collection ‘Sound of Anklets’ by poets Sanjuktaa Asopa and Kashinath Karmakar. His haiku, haiga and other Japanese short-form poetry appears in leading international journals like Frogpond, haikuKATHA, Acorn, Under the Basho among others. His haiku earned him awards in the 12th Setouchi-Matsuyama Photo-Haiku Contest and the 5th Basho-an International English Haiku Competition. He is the founding editor of Haiku Seed Journal (currently on hiatus).
Srini:
Srini teaches English to high school students at the Rishi Valley School in South India. When he is not preparing for his classes, he takes long walks, or watches cricket with friends or family. He has been writing haiku and senryu for the past five years, and his poems have appeared in a number of journals, including the Poetry Pea Journal and haikuKATHA.
Saumya Bansal:
Saumya Bansal is a journalism student based in Agra, India. Passionate about poetry since childhood, she published her first collection, “New Dawn,” at sixteen. In mid-2020, she discovered haiku and became fascinated by its brevity and depth. That same year, she won First Place at the 25th international “Kusamakura” haiku competition.
Saumya draws inspiration from haiku’s focus on the beauty of nature and the human experience. Writing haiku allows her to see the world in a new light, exploring hidden insights in small moments. Her haiku, senryu, and tanka have been featured in esteemed journals like Wales Haiku Journal, Cold Moon Journal, Autumn Moon Haiku Journal, Cattails, Ribbons, Prune Juice Journal, FreshOut Magazine, Scarlet Dragonfly Journal, Kingfisher, Modern Haiku, and Frogpond.
In addition, her work has placed in several competitions, including the 74th and 76th Basho Memorial English Haiku Contest (2020, 2022), Africa Haiku Prize (2020), 1st and 2nd Pula Film Festival Haiku Competition (2020, 2021), John Bird Dreaming Award for Haiku (2021), Fuji Taisho Tanka Contest (2021), Morioka International Haiku Contest (2022), Japan Fair Haiku Contest (2022), and the 3rd and 4th Star Haiku Contest in Japan (2022, 2023), among others.
Shreya Narang:
Shreya Narang, a Creative Writer hailing from India, was first captivated by Haiku at the age of 13, a passion she has nurtured ever since. She is also a founding member of the Triveni Haikai India YOUTH WING. As a Traveling Enthusiast, Shreya transforms her myriad experiences into poignant verses. Holding a Master’s degree in Creative Writing and Critical Life from The University of Leeds, her haiku, haibun, tanka, free verse poetry and short stories have been published in various national and international journals. Her literary pursuits are marked by an aspiration to write “every common that is rarely noticed”.
Surashree Joshi:
Surashree Joshi is an English teacher by profession. She is also a trained Hinduastani Classical vocalist. She loves coffee, Star Wars and is a Potterhead. She finds immense joy in writing all things Haiku and tries very hard to create the artwork for her poems.
Tanvi Nishchal:
Tanvi Nishchal, born on July 28th, discovered her passion for writing and theater in her teenage years. Guided by her English teacher, Mrs. Shefali Walter, and mentored by Haiku poet Mrs. Kala Ramesh, she has published Haiku in international journals such as _Cattails, Failed Haiku & Under the Basho. With a Master’s in English, Tanvi also dedicates time to volunteering in government schools. Her short stories feature in books such as “Born Too Soon”. “Existing Loudly .” & currently, her work has been published in Bookalcholics’ latest anthology “Letter to my Younger Self” Recognized among the top 250 at Super Success, she shares mythological stories and spoken word poetry on Instagram: @trandomrhyme.
Raghav Prashant Sundar:
Raghav Prashant Sundar is an Engineer from Chennai currently working in Thailand. He enjoys tabletop RPGs, crochet and Japanese short form literature. He is a student of Shloka Shankar and his poems have been featured in many journals including Whiptail, Failed Haiku, Sonic Boom and Prune Juice. His debut chapbook, Anityam, was published by Yavanika Press in 2023.
Namratha Varadharajan:
Namratha Varadharajan is a poet from Bengaluru, India. She writes to clear her lens, in this world of excess. She writes poems that explore the nature of emotions, relationships, and our interconnectedness with nature. She attempts to chip at the prejudices that plague us, one syllable at a time. Her work has been nominated for the Best of The Net Anthology 2023, and shortlisted for the Orange Flower Awards. She was a part of a showcase collaboration between Art and Poetry in the Ignite — From Within The Confines Virtual Exhibition. Her work has been published in haikuKATHA, The Yearbook of Indian Poetry 2021, 2023, Usawa Literary Review, Poetry Pea, Bones, Drifting Sands, Muse India, FemkuMag, The Alipore Post, among others. She is currently working on her first poetry collection.
The unpublished poems that the poets read today will be in the Journal 5:24.
The published poems that were read today will be sent to our members or you can purchase a copy via Buy Me A Coffee.
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