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Iliyana Stoyanova

Iliyana StoyanovaKHF Honorary Poet

United Kingdom
English · Korean · Japanese
Profile Iliyana Stoyanova is a poet, editor and translator; she holds a PhD in Theology. Iliyana served as Secretary of the United Haiku and Tanka Society (2017–2020) and has been Living Legacies Editor for the Living Haiku Anthology since 2014 and Haikupedia Editor since 2020. She was also British Haiku Society Communications Officer (2016–2022), Awards Administrator (2016–2024), Editor of its journal, Blithe Spirit (from 2022), and BHS President since 2023.

Iliyana started writing haiku twenty years ago. Her haiku and other poems have been published in numerous journals (cattails, cho, Blithe Spirit, hedgerow, Presence, Ribbons, Skylark, Time Haiku, etc.) and anthologies (Naad Anunaad, 2016; Wishbone Moon, 2018; Haiku 2021; The Haiku Way To Healing, 2022; One Thread, 2024, etc.), and won several international awards. Iliyana enjoys photography, watercolour painting, travelling, and reading. She resides in Aveiro, Portugal.
View full profileExpand career, publications, editing, and literary activities on this page.

Career

2010 — Published her first haiku collection, Ostrovityansko Haiku (Islander Haiku).
2014–present — Living Legacies Editor, Living Haiku Anthology.
2016–2022 — Publicity Officer, British Haiku Society.
2016–2024 — Awards Officer, British Haiku Society.
2017–2020 — Secretary, United Haiku and Tanka Society (UHTS).
2017 — Co-editor of Ekphrasis, an anthology of British Haiku Society members.
2019 — Co-editor of the international women’s haiku anthology Peonies / Божури.
2021 — Co-editor of Temple, an anthology of British Haiku Society members.
2022–present — Editor of Blithe Spirit, the journal of the British Haiku Society.
2023–present — President of the British Haiku Society.

Present — Member of the Haikupedia Editorial Team, contributing to international haiku scholarship and documentation.
Major Publications and Editorial Work

Selected Publications

Ostrovityansko Haiku (Islander Haiku) (Sofia, 2010)
Her first haiku collection, combining haiku inspired by her life in the United Kingdom with photographs and haiga.

Selected Editorial Work

Ekphrasis: The British Haiku Society Members’ Anthology 2017 (British Haiku Society, 2017)
An anthology of works by members of the British Haiku Society.
Peonies / Божури: Haiku Anthology (2019)
A multilingual international anthology introducing 57 women haiku poets from 24 countries. It includes English, Bulgarian, and the participating poets’ native languages.
where silence becomes song (co-editor, 2019)
A commemorative anthology for the International Haiku Conference held in St Albans, United Kingdom.
Harmony within Diversity (co-editor, 2019)
A collection of papers presented at the International Haiku Conference.
Temple: The British Haiku Society Members’ Anthology 2021 (British Haiku Society, 2021)
An international members’ anthology featuring work by poets from more than 20 countries.

Editorial & Literary Activities

Editor of Blithe Spirit (2022–present)
Blithe Spirit is the official quarterly journal of the British Haiku Society and one of the United Kingdom’s leading haiku journals, publishing haiku, tanka, haibun, criticism, and related work.
Representative Works (3)
1
cloudy morning
English · Original

cloudy morning

a stray sunbeam

finds the cat

Season word sunbeam Season autumn🍁
2
velvet sunset
English · Original

velvet sunset

where the wild roses

grow

Season word the wild roses Season summer💧
3
night bus
English · Original

night bus

her tattoo flies away

with each street light

Season word None Season Seasonless🌿