Yavanika Press
MEET THE STAGEHANDS
Shloka Shankar
Founder & Editor-in-Chief
Shloka Shankar is a poet, editor, 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 six international poetry anthologies since 2016. Shloka is the Founding Editor of the literary & arts journal Sonic Boom. She is the author of Points of Arrival (Origami Poems Project, 2021) and her debut full-length collection, The Field of Why (Yavanika Press, 2022). When she isn't poring over manuscripts, you can find her making abstract art, collages, or conducting poetry workshops.
Website: www.shlokashankar.com
Robin Smith
Associate Editor, Japanese short-forms
Robin Smith (they/them/Mx.) is an award-winning poet whose work has earned numerous accolades including inclusion in New Resonance: Emerging Voices in English Language Haiku 12 (2021) and The Haiku Foundation's Touchstone Award for Individual Poem (2019).
They are Co-Founder and Co-Editor at Whiptail: Journal of the Single-Line Poem and Co-Founder of the Trailblazer Contest. They also serve as the Coordinator for The Haiku Foundation's Touchstone Awards.
They presented at the 2021 Haiku Society of America Conference on "Signature Style: How Identity Informs Voice in Haiku" and were interviewed for The Haiku Foundation's "New to Haiku: Advice to Beginners."
Social: @komadorihaiku
Website: www.komadorihaiku.com
Shobhana Kumar
Associate Editor, Poetry
Shobhana Kumar is the author of two collections of poetry, published by Writers Workshop, Kolkata, and six other books including biographies and industrial histories in South India. She has read at various literary festivals, including the inaugural Bengaluru Poetry Festival in 2016. In her everyday work, she runs a non-profit organization, Small differences, that works with the homeless, the elderly, and the transgender community. She also works with students in schools and colleges and facilitates workshops and special projects.
Rohan Kevin Broach
Webmaster & Designer
Rohan Kevin Broach is a B.Tech (CSE) graduate from Delhi. He is a programmer, web designer, filmmaker, photographer, and poet, among many other things. He loves to solve the Rubik's cubes, make puns, and eat biryani whenever he gets the opportunity. Rohan is also a published haiku poet and has won prizes at various literary events.
Phil Openshaw
Resident Artist
Phil Openshaw is a photographer and visual artist from West Yorkshire, England. He works within a wide variety of media, including digital manipulation, audiovisual transformation, sound art, coding, calligraphy, music, print, painting, and asemic writing. Phil's photographic work includes a broad practice with themes including: urban spaces, transformation, the human impact on landscape and nature, the conflicting interests involved in organized urban development, the existing environments and population. His abstract pieces often include photography combined with drawn and abstract imagery.
Website: www.philopenshaw.com
Raghav Prashant Sundar
Resident Artist
Raghav Prashant Sundar is from Chennai, India and is a manufacturing engineer by profession. Outside of work, he indulges in all things make-believe. He loves to read, write, and play video games and table top RPGs. His illustrations and comics are heavily influenced by both European and Japanese comics, attempting to combine the clean lines and colors of the former with the action and immediacy of the latter. He primarily works in traditional pen and ink media but often uses digital tools to explore color, tone, and shade.