The Triveni Awards were inaugurated in 2024 and organized by the Triveni Haikai India group. The annual contest is open to all poets and invites submissions on the Internet of one or two haiku on any theme and without any prescriptions as to format. There is no submission fee. The first contest attracted 600 entries from more than 300 poets in 37 countries.
Contest Regulations and Procedures
The Triveni Awards are conducted on the Internet. The contest is open to all poets of any age anywhere.
Using a standard form accessible on the Triveni Haikai India website, poets are invited to submit one or two original and previously unpublished haiku. There is no specific theme or required format and no entry fee. The submission window is nominally October 1–15.
Three winning haiku and several honourable mentions are selected. Cash prizes of 10,000, 5,000, and 3,000 rupees are awarded to the winners, and e-certificates are presented for each winning haiku and honourable mention.
The names of the contest judges are announced together with the winners by email to Triveni Haikai India members and shortly thereafter posted on the Triveni Haikai India website.
Triveni Awards 2026
| Judges | Billie Dee and Vandana Parashar | |
| Contest administration | Padma Rajeswari | |
| Number of entries | Not stated | |
| Results announced | September 13, 2025, on the Triveni Haikai India website | |
| First Place (₹ 10,000) | Sheila Windsor, East Sussex, U.K. | forget-me-nots one red ranunculus breaks the rules |
| Second Place (₹ 5,000) | Alizetta Dawson, New South Wales, Australia | winter sunlight an old man smooths a train ticket |
| Third Place (₹ 3,000) | Ewan Rourke, Willunga, South Australia | another scorcher the bird bath out of sky again |
| Honourable Mention (8) in no particular order | Erin Castaldi, Mays Landing, NJ, U.S.A. | almost the end of me bent water lily |
| paul miller, Florida, U.S.A. | nothing old or new to the mayfly stone bridge | |
| Debbie Strange, Winnipeg, Canada | adoption papers the empty egg cases of common whelks | |
| Cherie Hunter Day, New Hampshire, U.S.A. | thin membrane in the throat of a frog spring rain | |
| Lori Kiefer, London, U.K. | evening star— the silversmith lowers his shutters | |
| Nicholas Klacsansky, Washington State, U.S.A. | towhee’s call— not able to find a name for god | |
| Raju Arockiasamy, Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India | midday heat in the well’s depths a cool sky |
Triveni Awards 2025
| Judges | Billie Dee and Vandana Parashar | |
| Contest administration | Padma Rajeswari | |
| Number of entries | Not stated | |
| Results announced | September 1, 2025, on the Triveni Haikai India website | |
| First Place (₹ 10,000) | Lorraine Haig, Tasmania, Australia | drowsy day our watermelon seeds speckle the cat |
| Second Place (₹ 5,000) | Adelaide B. Shaw, Somers, New York, U.S.A. | a shaft of sunlight the stairwell becomes a cathedral |
| Third Place (₹ 3,000) | Tracy Davidson, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, U.K. | sacred mountain I tire halfway to enlightenment |
| Honourable Mention (5) Alphabetically by first name | Pascal Pozzo di Borgo, Bastia, France | heatwave alert children blow on a wind chime |
| Kavitha Sreeraj, Hyderabad, India | fireplace— the wall holds the shadow of an empty chair | |
| Padma Thampatty, Wexford, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. | soft breeze braiding the scent of jasmine into her tress | |
| Eufemia Griffo, Settimo Milanese, Italy | summer house a layer of dust on the old fairy tales |
Triveni Awards 2024
| Judges | Susan Antolin and Kala Ramesh | |
| Contest administration | Sangita Kalarickal and Teji Sethi Coordinators; Teji Sethi, Art and Design | |
| Number of entries | 600 from more than 300 poets in 37 countries | |
| Results announced | December 1, 2024, on the Triveni Haikai India website | |
| First Place (₹ 10,000) | Debbie Strange, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada | refugee train small hands starfished against the glass |
| Second Place (tie) (₹ 5,000) | paul m., Inlet Beach, Florida, U.S.A. | too small for her laugh sister’s urn |
| Sonali Rasal, Pune, Maharashtra, India | sacred grove even the rain tiptoes on leaves | |
| Honourable Mention (8) Alphabetically by first name | Alfred Booth, Lyon, France | autumn leaves a palette for loss |
| Christina Sng, Singapore | sunrise my cat checks if I am alive | |
| Jenny Shepherd, London, U.K. | rehearsal for my cremation MRI scan | |
| Owen Bullock, Canberra, ACT, Australia | yoga mat the imprint of my foot dissolves | |
| Rehn Kovacic, Mesa, Arizona, U.S.A. | war games played as a child everyone goes home | |
| Sreenath, Mysuru, Karnataka, India | landslide— digging out bodies to bury them | |
| Swagata Soumyanarayan, Mumbai, India | winter nights the child sleeps in white noise of fists and whimpers | |
| Yesha Shah, Surat, Gujarat, India | crescent moon mahakali’s sickle dripping red |