Poet Profile

Natalia Kuznetsova

Natalia Kuznetsova - English language teacher, translator, conference interpreter, poet. She started to write tanka and mostly haiku and senryu in English in 2007. Since then she has taken part in numerous competitions worldwide, her haiku have been published in 10 countries in various traditional and online publications, among which World Haiku Review, IRIS International magazine, DIOGEN, The Mainichi, The Asahi Shimbun Haikuist Network, Sharpening the Green Pencil contests, Failed Haiku, Chrysanthemum, NHK Haiku Masters and others.

Awards and Other Honors: Various prizes and awards since 2007, including the 12th Kusamakura Haiku Competition 2007, third prize; Honorable Mentions in "Spirits-up"haiku contest, Japan, 2008; Vancouver Cherry Blossoms Festival 2008, 2010, 2011, 2016; World Haiku Festival 2010; World Haiku Review 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017; Basho Festival contests 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017; Special Recognition in Fujisan Haiku Contest 2015; Diogen magazine competitions - Best Winter Haiku 2012 second prize, Best Winter Haiku 2013 third prize, Best Summer Haiku 2013 first prize for senryu, Best Autumn Haiku 2013 third prize; World Haiku Review - first prize August 2014( Neo Classical); first prize January 2015( Shintai) and second prize( Vanguard); Editor's Choice and third prize( Neo Classical) June 2015; second prizes March 2018 (Shintai and Vanguard); second prize in European Quarterly Kukai #6 2014; the 22nd Kusamakura Haiku Competition 2017 - Kumamoto City Award; NHK Haiku Masters February, 2018 runner-up (photo Haiku); and some others. Natalia was included on the list of "European Top 100 Most Creative Haiku Authors" 2010 – 2017.

Books Published: Solitude ( SP Studio, Moscow 2014)

in the rubble -
staring into the sky
a crippled doll

first tulips
in the hotel room ...
homesick

refreshing water
from a decrepit well ...
the old man's wisdom

spellbound
listening to the silence ...
supermoon

on the old oak's stump
sawdust and countless rings -
my family tree

ashes to ashes...
the young widow looks up -
double rainbow

Credits: “in the rubble” - Honorable Mention, World Haiku Festival, Nagasaki, 2010; “first tulips” - Golden Haiku Competition (Golden Triangle 2018) Judges' Selection; refreshing water” - the 22nd Kusamakura Competition, 2017 Kumamoto City Haiku Award; “spellbound” - first publication The Mainichi, December 4, 2015; then NeverEnding Story, October 2016; “on the old oak's stump” - Basho Festival Contest 2013, Honorable Mention; “ashes to ashes...” - World Haiku Review - June 2015, Editor's Choice, third prize (Neo Classical).