English poet and linguist Rachel Marie Sutcliffe was born in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. Rachel’s love of language is reflected in her educational qualifications: a BA in Modern Languages, a Postgraduate Certificate in Education and an MA in English. Her studies and work meant Rachel spent some time abroad, first as an English language assistant in Spain, then as a technical English lecturer in France. After her return to England, she worked as an EFL and Spanish lecturer and a language tutor in her home town of Huddersfield.

 

During her early twenties Rachel was diagnosed with an incurable, immune disorder and her writing, which had once been a pastime, became a form of therapy. Informed by Rachel’s keen observations of both nature and people, her haiku and senryu resonated with readers all over the world.

 

A former member of the British Haiku Society, Rachel’s work has appeared in numerous print and online journals including: A Hundred Gourds, A New Ulster, Autumn Moon Haiku Journal, Bamboo Hut, Blithe Spirit, Brass Bell, Cattails, Failed Haiku, Frogpond, Haiku Commentary, Haikuniverse, Hedgerow, Lynx, Lyrical Passion Poetry E-Zine, Memori de una Geisha, Never Ending Story, Notes from the Gean, Prune Juice, Shamrock, Per Diem (The Haiku Foundation), Scryptic, Stardust, The Heron's Nest and The Living Senryu Anthology, The World Haiku Review, The Zen Space and tinywords

 

Books published: Author of Flying Free: A Poetic Response to Illness (Misfit Books Press 2018)

 

Awards and Other Honors: Selected for the 9th Yamadera Bashō Memorial Museum; Work featured on NHK Haiku Masters; Honorable Mention in Wild Plum Haiku Contest 2017; Shortlisted BHS Museum of Haiku Literature Awards 2015; Work selected for big data: The Red Moon Anthology of English-language Haiku 2014 (Red Moon Press 2015); Runner Up Shamrock Readers’ Choice Awards (2014); Journey to Crone (Chuffed Buff Books 2013); The Survivor's Guide To Bedlam (Brian Wrixon Books 2012); Poets with Voices Strong-In Praise-In Memory- In Ink anthology (Brian Wrixon Books 2012). C.2.2. Anthology of short verse (Yet To Be Named Free Press 2013); and Kigo: Seasonal Words Issues 1 and 2 (Chuffed Buff Books 2014). Short listed for Desmond O'Grady Poetry Competition, White House Limerick Poetry.