MEET  THE  TEAM


Founder & Editor-in-Chief:

Shloka Shankar is a poet, editor, publisher, and self-taught visual artist from Bangalore, India. She enjoys experimenting with Japanese short-forms and myriad found poetry techniques alike. A Best of the Net nominee and award-winning haiku poet, her poems and artwork have appeared in over 200 online and print venues of repute. In addition, she has edited and co-edited over half a dozen international poetry anthologies since 2016, including naad anunaad: an anthology of contemporary world haiku (Vishwakarma Publications, 2016), The 2020 Poetry Marathon Anthology (Authors Publish, 2020), and where the roots are: Best of Paper Lanterns, Vol. 2 (Yavanika Press, 2021), which received an Honourable Mention in the Touchstone Distinguished Books Awards for 2021. Shloka is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Yavanika Press. When she isn't poring over manuscripts, you can find her making abstract art, digital collages, or conducting poetry workshops through her brand bric-à-brac. She is the author of the microchap Points of Arrival (Origami Poems Project, 2021), the full-length haiku collection The Field of Why (Yavanika Press, 2022), and co-author of the collaborative haiga anthology, living in the pause (Yavanika Press, 2024).  


Website: www.shlokashankar.com
Facebook: Shloka Shankar: a rasika's musings
Instagram: www.instagram.com/shloks23 



Associate Editor:

Raghav Prashant Sundar is from Chennai, India and is a manufacturing engineer by profession. He has been writing and reading Japanese short-forms since 2021. A Touchstone award nominee, his work has been published in Failed Haiku, Poetry Pea, Prune Juice, Sonic Boom, whiptail: journal of the single-line poem, and elsewhere. Raghav also enjoys drawing and illustrating, and he is the selfsame individual who drew the rather fetching lizard on the whiptail homepage. While not writing or working, he indulges in all things make-believe: books, video games, Dungeons & Dragons, and anime. His dream is to traditionally publish a series of fantasy adventure novels, of which he has completed the first book. He vehemently denies all allegations that said novel is just Wizard of Earthsea with the words rearranged.



Co-curator for World Collage Day & Annual Vispo Contest:

Robin Smith (they/them) is a disabled artist who spends their days writing and drawing themselves into the bodies of other animals and plants. Their work has earned numerous accolades including The Haiku Foundation’s Touchstone Award for Individual Poem (2019). Robin is Co-founder and Co-editor of whiptail: journal of the single-line poem and an Associate Editor at Yavanika Press. They also serve as Coordinator for the Touchstone Awards for Individual Poems.

Social: @komadorihaiku