BIOGRAPHIES: V TO Z
 

TAKE ME TO W

 TAKE ME TO Y
 

VILÉN, FLORENCE: lives in Sweden, works in adult
education, teaching and writing. Interested in Japanese
haiku for some time, she has recently become interested
in Western haiku. Among her other interests are many
kinds of literature and the history of great cultures. Her
haiku and tanka have been published in still, The Heron's
Nest and Haiku Harvest along with other poems in Templar
Phoenix. Florence Vilen
 

W

WAKAN, NAOMI BETH: a writer and artist, Naomi has
written over twenty books including Haiku Bag
(Lightsmith Publishing) and Haiku: one breath poetry
(Heian International).  The latter has been a choice of
the Canadian Children's Book Centre and was also
selected by the American Library Association for its
2001 catalogue of Popular Paperbacks for Young
Adults. Naomi is a member of Haiku Canada and
contributes frequently to their newsletters. One of her
haiku received honourable mention of the 1999 Betty
Drevniok Haiku Competition. She lives on Gabriola Island,
B.C. with her husband, the sculptor, Elias Wakan.
 Naomi Wakan   Website: The Art & Work of Naomi Wakan

WARD, LINDA JEANNETTE: has been writing tanka,
haiku and haibun for about five years.  Her work is widely
published in journals and anthologies internationally.
Two of her tanka were included in TANKA SPLENDOR
awards (1998 & 1999), and she was recently awarded
second and third prizes in the Tanka Society of
America's annual contest.  She also edited FULL MOON
TIDE, THE BEST OF TANKA SPLENDOR 1990-1999.
 Linda Ward

WATSKY, PAUL: Paul’s poetry has appeared in numerous journals,
several issues of The Red Moon Anthology, and A New Resonance:
Emerging Voices in English Language Haiku. He co-authored Four
Trails, Four Seasons: Point Reyes Rengay (Jopa, 2000) with John
Thompson, and in February of this year, a chapbook of longer poems,
More Questions Than Answers, was published by tel-let.  In 1996 and
1997 he was awarded Second Prize in The Haiku Society of America's
Gerald Brady senryu competition.  He lives and works in San Francisco.
 Paul Watsky

WEEKLEY, J. MARCUS: currently lives in Hattiesburg,
MS where he is a graduate student at The Center for Writers
at The University of Southern Mississippi.  Marcus has lived
in over six states, three countries, and had only six cats in his
entire life. He enjoys sculpting, and has been interested in haiku
since he was fifteen but didn't get serious about writing the form
until a little over a year ago.Marcus has work forthcoming in
bottle rockets and The Penwood Review and has been published
in Poetry Motel, Black Ink, Christian Poet, and several other
journals.  J. Marcus Weekley 

WELCH, MICHAEL DYLAN. A writer and poet originally
from Watford, England. He has lived in Ghana, Australia,
and Canada, and now lives Foster City, California, where
he is a staff editor for IDG Books Worldwide, publisher of
the yellow "For Dummies" computer books. From 1989
to 1997 he edited the quarterly haiku journal Woodnotes,
and he now edits Tundra, a journal of short poetry. He
is also editor and publisher of Press Here haiku books,
with 18 titles in print. In 1997 he served as first vice
president of the Haiku Society of America. He co-founded
the biannual Haiku North America conferences that began
in 1991, and in 1996 he co-founded the American Haiku
Archives at the California State Library in Sacramento.
The 1998 edition of Poet's Market features an interview
with him regarding haiku poetry and his new publication,
Tundra. He has been writing haiku for 20 years, and is
pleased to share moments of keen perception with others.
Michael Welch  Website: CAPTAIN HAIKU

WESTON, JOANNA M.: born in England, now lives in Prince
Albert, SK Canada. Married to an accountant, Robert, they
Have 3 sons: Andrew, Jon and Mark; and 3 grandchildren:
Shelby, Steven,Emma and one cat, Kelly. Joanna, presently
renovating one house and one garden, obtained an  M.A. from
the University of British Columbia and her work is published
in several anthologies. Published in Canada, U.S.A., U.K. etc.,
her work appears in CANADIAN WOMAN STUDIES, CONVOL-
VULUS, ENDLESS MOUNTAINS REVIEW, GREEN’S MAGAZINE,
PRAIRIE FIRE, SISTERSONG, SPIN and others. Author of the
following chapbooks: ONE OF THESE LITTLE ONES, 1987;
CUERNAVACA DIARY, 1990; SEASONS, 1993; ALL SEASONS,
1996 (2nd edition 1997). Joanna also reviews poetry books and
is presently renovating one house and one garden.
Joanna M. Weston

WIGGINS, DON: recently retired from the United States Air
Force and now lives in central North Carolina. A newcomer
to writing poetry, his poems have appeared in The Haiku
Corner and Sijo West.   Don Wiggins

WILSON, BILLIE: born in Indiana (August 1, 1941),  She
moved to Juneau, Alaska, on a gray, windy, rainy day in
November 1962. Billie says, "I knew I was home when I walked
to the airplane's exit  door and saw my first mist-shrouded
mountains. People behind me had to wait while I breathed in the
freshest air on the planet."  She and her husband Gary share
eight grandchildren. She is semi-retired, taking on the occasional
writing contract.  She states, "My real joy is creative writing. I
knew in fourth grade that I'd be a writer." Her articles (self-help
inspirational, true-life drama, etc.) have been published in small
magazines. Her poetry is included in a number of Alaska anthologies
and small magazines. Her haiku has appeared in Modern Haiku,
Frogpond, The Heron's Nest, Hummingbird, Poetry in the Light/
Haiku Light, Haiku Headlines, Temps Libres, and several other
journals. Her first haibun will be included in "stone frog" Anthology,
Vol II, Red Moon Press. She is a member of the Haiku Society
of America, the Alaska Haiku Society, and the World Haiku Club.
She says, "I've been writing haiku-shaped poems since the late 1960s
and learned only a few years ago that I had almost as much to unlearn
as to learn about real haiku."     Billie Wilson

WOODRUFF, PHILLIP:  has lived most of his life in
Colorado.  He enjoys spending time in the Rocky Mountains
and writing poetry.  His poems have appeared in Templar
Phoenix Literary Review (Spring 2000, Summer 2000) Wild
And Whirling Words, and Inscape.
 

Y

YOUNG, LAURA: lives in rural north Florida. She and
Neca Stoller earned the Grand Prize in the Haiku Society
of America 1997 Renku Contest for their collaborative work
"The Turkey's Wattle." Laura's work has appeared in
Modern Haiku, Woodnotes, and Lynx and forthcoming
in Frogpond and Tundra.   Laura Young
 

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