Poet Profile

Madhuri Pillai

Madhuri Pillai is an English (Hons) graduate. She has studied journalism and has worked as a journalist. Madhuri discoverd the Japanese genre of poetry in 2013 and has since written and published haiku, tanka and haiga in various journals. She also writes cherita. Madhuri is also an animal activist.

Awards and Other Honors:

5th place in the 15th Indian Kukai Feb. 2016; Honourable Mention in the 6th Japan-Russia Haiku contest (2017) in the English section; The Best of Mainichi's Haiku in English in 2016, 2017 and 2018, a haiku in the selected submission in the 10th Yamadera Basho Memorial Museum English Haiku Contest, 2018; First runner up in The Heron’s Nest Readers’ Choice Awards for 2018; 1st Prize in H.Gene Murtha Contest in 2019 and a highly commended in the same contest; Second Prize in the 24th International Kusamakura Haiku Competition, 2019; Award for Excellence in the English Language Entry in the 9th Setouchi - Matsuyama International Photo Haiku Contest (2019); Joint Winner International Sakura Award, Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival 2020; Selected Haiku Collection - 12th Yamadera Basho Memorial Museum English Haiku Contest 2020.

cherry blossoms 
mother’s baby steps 
holding my hand

lost dog
I leave my voice
in every street

ultrasound gel
as she circles the probe
I read her face

ultrasound 
a tad too long
the probe’s pause

cancer diagnosis
I add a red lipstick
to my collection

siblings...
the different narratives 
of our childhood

Credits:

“cherry blossoms” – Joint Winner International Sakura Award, Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival 2020; “lost dog“ – First runner up The Heron’s Nest Readers’ Choice Awards for 2018; “ultrasound gel “– 1st Prize H.Gene Murtha Contest, 2019; “ultrasound“ – Frogpond vol. 41.3, Autumn 2018; “cancer diagnosis“ – highly commended H.Gene Murtha Contest, 2019; “siblings“ – tinywords issue 17.2, Sept. 2017.