Mike Allen

Who is Mike Allen?

Mike Allen is an American editor and writer of speculative fiction and poetry. He currently lives in Roanoke, Virginia.

His short story "The Button Bin," published in the October 2007 issue of Helix SF, was a finalist for the 2008 Nebula Award for Best Short Story.

The Philadelphia Inquirer has described Allen as being "[a]mong the better-known practitioners of speculative poetry" and said his poems "work best when his bizarre lyricism is put in the service of a scary and taut narrative."

Allen has won the Rhysling Award for best speculative poem three times, in 2003, 2006, and 2007. He served as President of the Science Fiction Poetry Association from 2004 to 2006.

He created the small press poetry journal Mythic Delirium in 1998. Published biannually, the journal has included poems by authors such as Suzette Haden Elgin, Neil Gaiman, Theodora Goss, Joe Haldeman, Ursula K. Le Guin, Darrell Schweitzer, Sonya Taaffe, Catherynne M. Valente, Ian Watson and Jane Yolen.