Maya Lyubenova (Мая Любенова), born Maya Lyubenova Nikolova, September 12, 1956, Plovdiv, Bulgaria; died December 30, 2016, Plovdiv, teacher in the Philip Kutev National School of Folk Arts in Kotel, Bulgaria; translator, poet, and photographer. Won the World Haiku Association Haiga Contest, was declared Master Haiga Artist by the WHA, and was included in The European Top 100 most creative haiku authors for five years. Published a bilingual haiku collection titled Flecks of Blue / Парченца синьо. Resided in Plovdiv.