Abigail Friedman

Abigail Friedman, a retired diplomat and accomplished, award-winning haiku poet, began composing haiku in a haiku group that met at the foot of Mt. Fuji, led by Japanese haiku master Momoko Kuroda. 

Her book, The Haiku Apprentice: Memoirs of Writing Poetry in Japan (Stone Bridge Press, 2006), captures that experience and her insights into haiku. She is founder of HaikuQuebec, the first French/English bilingual haiku group in Quebec City.

Her work has appeared in poetry publications in the U.S., Canada, France, and Japan, including: Frogpond; AOI; The Asahi Weekly; Association Francophone de Haiku (AFH); The Moss at Tokeiji (Deep North Press, 2010); and Bilboquet.

She has presented her haiku at the Montreal Zen Poetry Festival, the Festival international de la poesie de Trois-Rivieres, Haiku Canada, and Haiku North America.

In 2012, she was commissioned to compose a haiku to mark the U.S. gift of dogwoods to Japan, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Japan’s gift of cherry trees to the U.S. Awards and Other Honors: First Prize, Mainichi International Haiku Contest (2014); Second Prize, Mainichi International Haiku Contest (2012); Grand Prize, Yamanashi Mt. Fuji haiku contest (2011); Honorable Mention, Mainichi International Haiku Contest (2008); Finalist, Kiriyama Book Prize [for The Haiku Apprentice] (2007); Second Prize, Mainichi International Haiku Contest (2006).