Poet Profile

Kanchan Chatterjee

Kanchan Chatterjee works in the revenue department of the government of India. He started writing haiku in 2012. A Pushcart Award nominee, his haiku and other poems have appeared in all major online &print journals, e.g. Frogpond, cattails, A Hundred Gourds, NHK Haiku Masters, The Mainichi, The Asahi Shimbun, Wales Haiku Journal and others. His first book of haiku - Scattered Leaves was published in 2020. He loves music, travelling, reading and biking.

Awards and Other Honors:

The Mainichi Annual Selection Best of 2020 Haiku in English; Kaji Aso Studio Haiku Contest, 2020 - Honorable Mention; 73rd Basho Memorial Haiku Competition, 2019 - Honorable Mention; Martin Lucas Haiku Award, 2019 - Third Prize; 8th Edition of The Haiku Contest Sharpening The Green Pencil 2019 - 2nd Prize; 7th Edition of The Haiku Contest Sharpening The Green Pencil 2018 – commendation; Wild Plum Haiku Contest, 2018 - Third Prize; ITO EN Oi Ocha New Haiku Contest, 2017 - Judges selection; The 21st Mainichi haiku contest, 2017 - Second Prize; The 8th Setouchi Matsuyama International Photo-Haiku Contest 2017 - Award in Photo haiku section; Golden Triangle Haiku Contest - Commendations in 2015 and 2016; Wild Plum haiku Contest, 2015 - Honorable Mention.

Books Published:

Scattered Leaves - AuthorsPress, New Delhi, India (2020).

a bull cart
creaks past the window . . .
Harvest Moon

farmers’ market . . .
among the vegetables
a cricket chirps

blazing sun . . .
the watermelon seller
opens his knife

the waitress says
she’s not good anymore . . .
Kathmandu autumn

at the far end
of my childhood courtyard . . .
wild roses

evening chill . . .
a paper plane stuck
on barbed wire

Credits:

“a bull cart” - The Mainichi Annual Selection Best of 2020 Haiku in English; “farmers’ market“ - ITO EN Oi Ocha New Haiku Contest, 2017: Judges selection; “blazing sun“ - 73rd Basho Memorial Haiku Contest, 2019: Honorable Mention; “the waitress says“ - Martin Lucas Haiku Award, 2019: Third Prize; “at the far end“ - Kaji Aso Studio Haiku Contest, 2020: Honorable Mention; “evening chill“ - Sharpening the Green Pencil Haiku Competition, 2019: 2nd Prize.