Urban Haiku Podcast | More City Life in Short Poetry

Step into the streets, gyms, roads, and temples of contemporary poetry with this episode of the Poetry Pea Podcast, dedicated to urban haiku and senryū. In this instalment of the Urban Haiku series, we continue to explore how modern city life finds expression through short-form poetry—capturing fleeting moments, human interactions, and everyday urban scenes in just a few carefully chosen words.

Featuring unpublished and published urban haiku and senryū submitted by members of the Poetry Pea community, this episode offers listeners the chance to hear fresh work while also engaging with questions of form, and categorisation. What makes a poem haiku rather than senryū? How does urban experience shape contemporary haiku writing? And how do poets adapt traditional forms to modern settings?

Perfect for haiku poets, short-form poetry lovers, and writers interested in contemporary haiku, this episode aims to inspire you to try writing urban poetry yourself—especially if you’re considering submitting to a current or future Poetry Pea haiku call-out.

You’ll also hear updates on Poetry Pea opportunities, including YouTube writing prompts, three-word challenges, and upcoming features such as the Golden Pea Awards.

🎧 Listen, reflect, and be inspired to write your own urban haiku.

📺 Don’t forget to explore the Poetry Pea YouTube channel and membership options for more ways to write, submit, and publish short poetry.

Show notes

Welcome to The Poetry Peacast, where small poems loom large and every word earns its keep.

In this episode, you’ll hear poetry from the long list of Poetry Pea’s brand-new awards — the Golden Pea Awards. These are poems that came tantalisingly close to the top: work that impressed, delighted, and lingered, but ultimately didn’t quite make it into the final, glittering handful of Golden Peas.

Expect exceptional haiku, senryū, tanka and haibun from across the Poetry Pea community, read with care and accompanied by an appreciation of effort, craft, and understatement. This is a celebration of poems that were almost 24-carat gold — and in many cases, arguably are.

Thoughtful, witty, and refreshingly free of fuss, The Poetry Peacast honours the breadth and brilliance of contemporary short poetry and their brilliant writing community — and reminds us that sometimes, nearly is still rather magnificent.

Want to see a list of te poets on the loong list, head over to the episode webpage.

Urban haiku and senryū inspired by modern city life, with poems, and submission calls.

Show notes

poets featured today:

m shane pruett, Haiku Pea Podcast, S3E22

Eric W Amann[i] William J Higgenson with Penny Harter,”The Haiku Handbook.” Kodansha International, 1985, p87

Barbara Tate, THF City Sidewalk, taste

Michael Dylan Welch, from Graceguts

Mizuho, Urban Ginko V – Nakazaki-cho, Osaka July 10th 2023

Akihiko, Urban Ginko V – Nakazaki-cho, Osaka July 10th 2023

Richard Wright, Haiku: This Other World, Arcade Publishing, New York, NY, 1998

Lakshmi Iyer, Poetry Pea Journal, 3.22

Bob Whitmire, THF City Sidewalk, hearing

Tracy Davidson, Poetry Pea Journal 2.23

Wendy Cobourne, Prune Juice, issue 46

Arvinder Kaur, Poetry Pea Journal, Summer 2021

Rupa Anand, failed haiku issue111

The Poetry Pea Podcast is a contemporary poetry podcast featuring original poetry, poetry prompts, video poetry prompts, and poetry readings from poets around the world.

In this episode of the Poetry Pea Podcast, we open Season Nine with original contemporary poetry written in response to our final video poetry prompt of 2025, curated by poet Kathleen Tice. This poetry podcast showcases a wide range of poetic voices and styles, demonstrating how a single poetry prompt can inspire many different poems.

You’ll also hear updates about the Poetry Pea community, the latest poetry prompt on YouTube, and how poets can submit poetry correctly by leaving poems in the YouTube comments. Submitting poetry through the YouTube comments is the only way to take part in the Poetry Pea video poetry prompt.

The Poetry Pea Podcast is ideal for poets, writers, poetry readers, and anyone looking for writing prompts, poetry inspiration, or contemporary poetry podcasts. Each episode features poetry readings, poetry prompts, and creative encouragement for poets at all stages.

Check out the poets featured today on the Episode webpage

In this special episode of the Poetry Pea Podcast, host Patricia welcomes celebrated Canadian poet Reid Hepworth for a stunning reading from her collection Loss Is a River. Praised for its emotional depth and lyrical power, Hepworth’s work explores love, loss, memory, and the quiet moments that shape our lives.

Patricia also shares an important correction and heartfelt apology to poets Mona Bedi and Marylyn Burridge, plus news about the upcoming Christmas break, the bumper Season Nine, and teases Poetry Pea Press developments planned for 2026.

Listeners will find links to Reid Hepworth’s books, Poetry Pea membership, the mailing list, and submission guidelines in the show notes.

A perfect listen for fans of contemporary poetry, haiku, senryu, haibun, one line poems, and tanka.

Subscribe, stay connected, and enjoy this beautiful end-of-year reading.

show notes

Join Patricia for a special episode of the Poetry Pea Podcast, featuring original tanka poetry from contemporary writers around the world. In this episode, she shares the judges’ nominations for the best tanka selected for the forthcoming Poetry Pea Journal. If you enjoy tanka, haiku, short-form poetry, or modern Japanese-inspired verse, this episode offers fresh poems, thoughtful commentary, and an inside look at the judging process. Perfect listening for poets, readers, and anyone passionate about tanka and micropoetry.

If you enjoy this podcast do think about supporting our work, thank you.

• Buy us a coffee
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• Or simply share this episode with your poetry pals and leave us a comment or review. It really does help the show grow.

This week on the Poetry Peacast, we welcome Scottish poet Claire Thom, joining us from Andalusia, Spain. Claire, founder of Wee Sparrow Press, shares haiku and haibun from her beautiful collection Wildflowers in Oyster Stone. It's always enjoyable to hear a poet read their work, don't you think?

Discover how travel, nature, and poetic craft intertwine as we talk about the art of haiku editing and the inspiration behind her work.

If you love contemporary haiku, haibun, and international poetry, this episode will enchant you.

✨ Don’t forget to sign up for the Poetry Pea mailing list for news on our upcoming anthology, amongst other things — a little gem in itself!

show notes.