Maria Coman, Sonia Cristina Coman, and Irene Koronas

At thirteen years old, Sonia Cristina Coman is an international haiku phenomenon. Sonia, a student of Ion Codrescu's, has published two books of her haiku; she received the Arkansas Traveller certificate and a letter of commendation from President Bill Clinton; she has been featured on the BBC and on National Japanese TV; she was awarded the title of "Ambassador of the World Haiku" at the World Haiku Festival 2000; and she was an honored guest at Haiku North America 2001. (See Sonia's curriculum vitae for details about her career. To get a sense of Sonia's maturity and poise, read her account of World Haiku Festival 2000.)

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One of the last events of HNA 2001 was a ginko (haiku walk) in a wildflower preserve, followed by a buffet and haiku reading hosted by Raffael De Gruttola and his wife, Michelina De Gruttola. Sonia's picture above and the next several photographs were taken at the De Gruttola's home outside of Boston.