Abigail Friedman (born July 9, 1956, Washington, D.C., U.S.A.), retired American diplomat and national security official and prize-winning haiku poet and author. Studied in Japan under haiku master Momoko Kuroda. Founded the first bilingual French/English haiku group in Quebec City and the Supernova haiku group in the D.C. area; judge of the Golden Haiku Contest. Friedman is the author of three haiku-related books and contributor to many anthologies. Resides in Washington, D.C.

Agnes Eva Savich (born Agnieszka Ewa Milewska, November 18, 1976, Kraków, Poland), university program coordinator, oboist, and haiku poet. Her collection, The Watcher: Poems, was published in 2009. Founder and leader of the Austin, Texas Haiku Group; judge of the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Contest; editor of the Haiku Society of America Southwest Region 2021 members’ anthology; and curator of the Memorial Presentation for Haiku North America 2021. Lives in Pflugerville, Texas.

Alan S. Bridges (Alan Scott Bridges, born October 27, 1956, Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.A.), patient services representative, Emerson Hospital in Concord, Mass.; president, Cosega Energy Corporation; and haiku poet. He is a member of the Broadmoor Haiku Collective and has served as a judge of the Haiku Society of America Gerald Brady Senryu Contest (2014), the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Haiku International (2019), and the Robert Spiess Memorial Haiku Competition (2020). Bridges was voted Poet of the Year by the readers of The Heron’s Nest in both 2016 and 2017. His work has been featured in A New Resonance 7 and Mann Library’s Daily Haiku. He has won six haiku competitions, and his published collections include In a Flash (2019), Stirring Ashes (2020), and In the Curves ( 2020). Bridges has lived in Massachusetts for most of his life, currently residing in Weston.

Alanna C. Burke (born Alanna Carroll Burke, July 31, 1952, Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.A), American poet and business manager for her husband, the artist William Berra. Writing haiku and haibun since 2011; published in the major print and online periodicals. Member of the Santa Fe Haiku Study Group; co-edited the group’s chapbook, Open Spaces. Lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Alexis K. Rotella (born Alexis Kaye Semenik, January 16, 1947, Cairnbrook, Pennsylvania), American poet, editor, artist, interfaith minister, acupuncturist, and student of Chinese and energy medicine. Author/editor of more than 40 books. Major successes in Japanese and American haiku competitions, and judged the Henderson, and Brady, and Itoen Oi Ocha contests. President of the Haiku Society of America, editor of Frogpond (1984), and honorary curator of the American Haiku Archive. Founder and editor of several leading journals. Her artwork published on the Internet and exhibited internationally. Resides in Greensboro, North Carolina.