David Cobb
David Cobb (born March 12, 1926, Harrow, England; died November 6, 2020, Braintree, Essex, England), British educator and pathbreaking haiku and haibun poet. He had a distinguished career in teaching languages (EFL, English, German) and literature, initially in the U.K., then in Hamburg, Germany, and Bangkok, Thailand. Beginning in 1968 he was an adviser/author for over 100 schoolbooks used worldwide. He launched the British Haiku Society in 1990 and served as its president from 1997 to 2002. His book The Consensus was used worldwide as a guide to haiku writing; this became English Haiku: a Composite View and is still issued to new members via the BHS Members’ Handbook. Cobb also pioneered English-language haibun. He was coauthor of the Haikupedia article ”Haiku in the United Kingdom: England” and last resided in Shalford, Essex, England.