Poet Profile

Sanjuktaa Asopa

Sanjuktaa had come upon haiku on a poetry site over more than a decade ago and had been hooked ever since. Her haiku (mostly) and the occasional tanka or a rare haibun have appeared in many reputed print and online journals like The Heron’s Nest, Frogpond, A Hundred Gourds, cattails, Acorn, Modern Haiku, Failed Haiku, Moonbathing, tinywordsamong others and have been included in quite a few anthologies. She has also edited Naad Anunaad: an anthology of contemporary world haiku, along with Kala Ramesh as the chief editor, and been one of the editors for Atoms of Haiku, Vol. 1, published in 2015.
Sanjuktaa lives with her husband in the quiet and laid-back city of Belgaum in the southern parts of India, has no published book as yet and is no good at writing a bio.

Awards and Other Honors:

Some of the awards that have come her way are: First place in ‘Calico Cat Haiku Contest’, 2012; Winner in the international category of Vancouver Cherry Blossoms Festival Haiku Invitational, 2017; one ‘Sakura Award’ and one HM in the same contest in 2015 and 2012 respectively; HM in ‘Little Iris Haiku Contest’, Croatia,2018; HM and Zatsuei (haiku of merit) awards in ‘R H Blythe Haiku Contest’ by World Haiku Review in 2019; Second place in ‘Bangabandhu Haiku Contest’ by Bangladesh Haiku Society in 2016; The Heron’s Nest award in September 2011; shortlisted for ‘The Touchstone Awards for Individual Poems’ in 2011; first place in ‘The 1st Haiku My Photo Challenge’ on Chrissi Villa's blog ‘Blossom Rain’ also remains one of her fondest wins.

dappled light
the pauses
in a junco's song

how much rain
you can hold . . .
curled autumn leaf

not a ripple . . .
the river tern swoops
into my reverie

after all the things
that have gone wrong―
plum blossom

frosty nights . . .
the way he doesn't reach out
for my hands any more

falling cherry petals
how gently the world lets go
of light

Credits:

“dappled light” - Modern Haiku, vol. 49.2, Summer 2018; “how much rain“ - Jumble Box, ed. by Michael Dylan Welch, 2017; “not a ripple“ - Cattails, October 2018; “after all the things“ - The Heron’s Nest Vol. XIV, No. 2: June, 2012; “frosty nights“ - Frogpond vol. 41.2 Spring/Summer 2018; “falling cherry petals“ - VCBF Haiku Invitational, 2017).