David G. Lanoue (born David Gerard Lanoue, September 27, 1954, Omaha Nebraska, U.S.A.). Retired professor of English at Xavier University of Louisiana, translator, critic, and poet. Specialist on Issa, Lanoue has produced four books of translation, three books of haiku criticism, a manual for writing haiku, five haiku novels, and two collections of his own haiku. Maintains The Haiku of Kobayashi Issa website; author of the Haikupedia article “Kobayashi Issa.” Cofounder (2002) of the New Orleans Haiku Society; President of the Haiku Society of America (2013–2015). Lives in Lexington, Kentucky.

Kobayashi Issa (小林一茶, born Kobayashi Nobuyuki, June 15, 1763, Kashiwabara, Shinano province [present-day Nagano prefecture], Japan; childhood name Kobayashi Yatarō; died January 5, 1828, Kashiwabara), Japanese haiku poet. Issa is revered in Japan and internationally as one of the greatest poets of the haikai tradition, ranked with Matsuo Bashō and Yosa Buson.