Abigail Friedman

Abigail Friedman is an award-winning haiku poet and former U.S. diplomat who began composing haiku in 2001 as the only non-Japanese member of a haiku group that met near Mt. Fuji, an experience she captures in her book The Haiku Apprentice: Memoirs of Writing Poetry in Japan (Stone Bridge Press, 2006). In I Wait for the Moon: 100 Haiku of Momoko Kuroda (Stone Bridge Press, 2014), Abigail introduces readers to the haiku of one of Japan's most well-known contemporary poets. Abigail has won numerous awards for her haiku, including first prize in the 18th Mainichi Shimbun International haiku contest and Grand Prize in the Yamanashi Mt. Fuji haiku contest. While living in Quebec City, she founded the city's first French/English bilingual haiku group. Her haiku, haibun, and writings on haiku have been featured in poetry publications in the U.S., India, Japan, Canada, and France. Abigail is presently CEO of The Wisteria Group, an advisory firm that helps businesses and non-profits create new strategic partnerships internationally including in the cultural arena.