Lee Gurga (born July 28, 1949 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American haiku poet. In 1997 he served as president of the Haiku Society of America.[1] He was the editor of Modern Haiku magazine from 2002 to 2006, and is the current editor of the Modern Haiku Press. Gurga lives in Lincoln, Illinois, where he works as a dentist.[2][3] Also involved in the translation of Japanese haiku into English, Gurga cites Matsuo Bashō, a Japanese poet from the Edo period, as one of his main appreciations.[4] One of his most known haiku is about graduation day for students and is presented in his book Haiku: A Poet's Guide.[5]
Background
Born in Chicago, Gurga attended the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. He first became interested in haiku during his high school years after reading a haiku translation book by Reginald Horace Blyth. He started his own haiku writing after that, focusing on Midwest imagery and scenery for his topics.[6]
