Photo by Dr. Chad Cassady
Neal Whitman (born March 27, 1948, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.), American academic and haiku poet and editor. He is Professor Emeritus, University of Utah School of Medicine, where he pioneered the addition of literary, performing, and visual arts into medical education. He is the founding and current haiku editor for the online journal Pulse: Voices from the Heart of Medicine. Whitman is the author of two haiku books, Blyth’s Spirit (2013) and From This Moment On (2020), and, with Elaine Whitman, he coedited the 2021 and 2022 Yuki Teikei Haiku Society members’ anthologies. He was made dōjin of the society in 2022. In the Haiku Society of America contests, Neal Whitman’s senryu won Honorable Mention in 2010 and First Place in 2014, a haiku took Honorable Mention in 2013, and a haibun earned the 1st Honorable Mention in 2014. His entry was selected as Best USA haiku in the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Haiku Invitational Contest, and he received Ito En North America New Haiku Grand Prix Bronze (2015), Silver (2016), and Gold (2019) medals. Whitman was commended by the Tor House Foundation for exemplary service as a docent at the Robinson Jeffers Tor House in Carmel, California (2005–2012). He has resided in Pacific Grove, California, since 2008.
Note: This is an abstract of a longer biographical article to come.