Photo by Marek Poręcki
Irena Iris Szewczyk (born July 16, 1966, Warsaw, Poland), philologist with a degree in Hungarian studies, photographer, and haiku and haiga poet. She has been active on the Shiki, European, Indian, and Caribbean online kukai and published her work in Polish, English, French, and Japanese online and print publications since 2011. Her haiku have been recognized in international haiku contests, notably those of the Haiku International Association and The Mainichi. She holds the title of Master Haiga Artist from the Japan-based World Haiku Association and was included among the European Top 100 most creative haiku authors from 2011 through 2016. Her bilingual book of poems, photographs, and haiga titled drugi brzeg: haiku (the other shore: haiku) was published in 2022. Szewczyk blogs at Iris Haiku, where she presents versions of her haikai in English, French, Polish, and Hungarian. She was a founding member of the Polish Haiku Association and formerly served on its board. She lives in Warsaw, Poland.
Note: This is an abstract of a longer biographical article to come.