Tom Clausen (tclausen888@gmail.com) is a life-long Ithacan living in the same house he grew up in with his wife, Berta. He became interested in haiku and related short forms of poetry in the late 1980s after reading an article that profiled Ruth Yarrow’s haiku. There was instant recognition that haiku was a form that might help with his tendency of wordiness, repetition, and overstatement. He has been reading and writing haiku, senryu, tanka, and little poems ever since.

Tom is the curator of a daily online haiku feature at Mann Library, Cornell University, where he worked for over 35 years before retiring in 2013. In 2003, Tom was invited to join the Route 9 Haiku group. The group publishes a journal twice a year, Dim Sum, featuring selected work by members John Stevenson, Hilary Tann, Mary Stevens, Yu Chang, Tom Clausen, and a guest poet, as well as haiga by Romanian artist and poet Ion Codrescu.

Tom enjoys walking, biking, photography, music and simply observing and documenting what there is to be found. He especially cares for cats, turtles and deer.