Mike Allen (born 1969) is an American news reporter and columnist, as well as an editor and writer of

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is a term that has been used with a variety of (sometimes contradictory) meanings. The broadest interpretation is as a category of fiction encompassing genres with elements that do not exist in reality, recorded history, na ...

and

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

Life

Allen is married to Anita Allen, with whom he runs Mythic Delirium Books.Allen, Mike.
Descent into Light: Mike Allen’s Home Page. About Mike Allen
" In his day job, he is a news reporter and arts and culture columnist for a daily newspaper in

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is lo ...

, where he currently lives.

Literary career

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

has described Allen as being " ong the better-known practitioners of speculative poetry" Strange Wisdoms of the Dead by Mike Allen
PopMatters.com; accessed June 6, 2017. and said his poems "work best when his bizarre lyricism is put in the service of a scary and taut narrative." He served as president of the

Science Fiction Poetry Association The Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA) is a society based in the United States with the aim of fostering an international community of writers and readers interested in poetry pertaining to the genres of science fiction, fantasy, ...

from 2004 to 2006. He created the

small press A small press is a publisher with annual sales below a certain level or below a certain number of titles published. The terms "indie publisher" and "independent press" and others are sometimes used interchangeably. Independent press is general ...

poetry journal ''Mythic Delirium'' in 1998. Published biannually, the journal has included poems by authors such as Suzette Haden Elgin,

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...

Theodora Goss Theodora Goss (born September 30, 1968) is a Hungarian-American fiction writer and poet. Her writing has been nominated for major awards, including the Nebula, Locus, Mythopoeic, World Fantasy, and Seiun Awards. Her short fiction and poetry ...

Joe Haldeman Joe William Haldeman (born June 9, 1943) is an American science fiction author. He is best known for his novel ''The Forever War'' (1974). That novel and other works, including ''The Hemingway Hoax'' (1991) and '' Forever Peace'' (1997), have wo ...

Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the '' Earthsea'' fantasy series. She was ...

Darrell Schweitzer Darrell Charles Schweitzer (born August 27, 1952) is an American writer, editor, and critic in the field of speculative fiction. Much of his focus has been on dark fantasy and horror fiction, horror, although he does also work in science fictio ...

Sonya Taaffe Sonya Taaffe is an American author of short fiction and poetry based out of Massachusetts. She grew up in Arlington and Lexington, Massachusetts and graduated from Brandeis University in 2003 where she received a B.A. and M.A. in Classical Studi ...

Catherynne M. Valente Catherynne M. Valente (born May 5, 1979) is an American fiction writer, poet, and literary critic. For her speculative fiction novels she has won the annual James Tiptree, Andre Norton, and Mythopoeic Fantasy awards. Her short fiction has a ...

, Ian Watson, and

Jane Yolen Jane Hyatt Yolen (born February 11, 1939) is an American writer of fantasy, science fiction, and children's books. She is the author or editor of more than 350 books, of which the best known is '' The Devil's Arithmetic'', a Holocaust novella. H ...

. In 2013, Allen used the

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

website

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

to convert ''Mythic Delirium'' to a quarterly digital journal that publishes fiction and poetry.Defying the Traditional Model: Crowdfunding in Sci-Fi and Fantasy
PublishersWeekly.com, November 21, 2014 Allen closed the journal in 2018 after publishing 20 digital issues and 50 issues overall.''Mythic Delirium'' Closes
locusmag.com, April 18, 2018; accessed August 4, 2019 For his work on ''Mythic Delirium'', Allen was nominated for a

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy literature, fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year a ...

in 2019.2019 World Fantasy Awards Finalists
locusmag.com, July 25, 2019; accessed August 4, 2019 Allen also used Kickstarter to continue publishing ''Clockwork Phoenix'', a fantasy fiction anthology series he began editing in 2008. ''

Strange Horizons ''Strange Horizons'' is an online speculative fiction magazine. It also features speculative poetry and nonfiction in every issue, including reviews, essays, interviews, and roundtables. History and profile It was launched in September 2000, and ...

'' called the first crowdfunded volume, ''Clockwork Phoenix 4'', a look into "the future of publishing, in which a crowd-sourced publication from a very small press can produce, and can present professionally and beautifully, work which is at the height of what is being written in genre."

Recognition

Allen's short story "The Button Bin" was a finalist for the 2008

Nebula Award for Best Short Story The Nebula Award for Best Short Story is a literary award assigned each year by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy short stories. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as a short stor ...

. In 2015, his debut short story collection ''Unseaming'' was a finalist for the

Shirley Jackson Award The Shirley Jackson Awards are literary awards named after Shirley Jackson in recognition of her legacy in writing. These awards for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror and the dark fantastic are presented ...

for best single author collection. In 2017, an anthology he edited, ''Clockwork Phoenix 5'', was a finalist for the

World Fantasy Award for best anthology In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

. In 2021, Allen received a second Shirley Jackson Award nomination for his 2020 collection ''Aftermath of an Industrial Accident: Stories''. Allen has won the

Rhysling Award __NOTOC__ The Rhysling Awards are an annual award given for the best science fiction, fantasy, or horror poem of the year. Unlike most literary awards, which are named for the creator of the award, the subject of the award, or a noted member of t ...

for best speculative poem three times, in 2003, 2006, and 2007.The Locus Index to SF Awards
sfadb.com; accessed June 6, 2017.

Bibliography

Short story collections

*''Unseaming'' (Antimatter Press, 2014) *''The Spider Tapestries: Seven Strange Stories'' (Mythic Delirium Books, 2016) *''Aftermath of an Industrial Accident: Stories'' (Mythic Delirium Books, 2020)

Poetry collections

*''Disturbing Muses'' (

Prime Books Sean Wallace (born January 1, 1976) is an American science fiction, fantasy, and horror anthologist, editor, and publisher best known for founding the publishing house Prime Books and for co-editing three magazines, ''Clarkesworld Magazine'', ''T ...

, 2005) *''Strange Wisdoms of the Dead'' (

Wildside Press Wildside Press is an independent publishing company in Cabin John, Maryland, United States. It was founded in 1989 by John Betancourt and Kim Betancourt. While the press was originally conceived as a publisher of speculative fiction in both trade ...

, 2006) *''The Journey to Kailash'' (

Norilana Books Norilana Books is an independent publishing company, founded in August 2006 and based in the United States. It is operated and owned by Vera Nazarian. Norilana publishes reprints of previously published Science Fiction and Fantasy works, includi ...

, 2008) *''Hungry Constellations'' (Mythic Delirium Books, 2014)

As editor

*''The Alchemy of Stars: Rhysling Award Winners Showcase'' (with Roger Dutcher, Science Fiction Poetry Association, 2005) *''Mythic'' (Mythic Delirium Books, 2006) *''Mythic 2'' (Mythic Delirium Books, 2006) *''Clockwork Phoenix: Tales of Beauty and Strangeness'' (

, 2008) *''Clockwork Phoenix 2: More Tales of Beauty and Strangeness'' (

, 2009) *''Clockwork Phoenix 3: New Tales of Beauty and Strangeness'' (

, 2010) *''Clockwork Phoenix 4'' (Mythic Delirium Books, 2013) *''Mythic Delirium'' (with Anita Allen, Mythic Delirium Books, 2014) *''Mythic Delirium: Volume Two'' (with Anita Allen, Mythic Delirium Books, 2015) *''Clockwork Phoenix 5'' (Mythic Delirium Books, 2016)

Awards

*"Epochs in Exile: A Fantasy Trilogy" (co-authored with Charles M. Saplak),

, Best Long Poem, 2003 (winner) *"The Strip Search,"

, Best Short Poem, 2006 (winner) *"The Journey to Kailash,"

, Best Long Poem, 2007 (winner) *"The Button Bin,"

Nebula Award The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of profe ...

, Best Short Story, 2008 (nominee) *''Unseaming'',

, Best Collection, 2014 (nominee) *''Clockwork Phoenix 5'',

, Best Anthology, 2017 (nominee) *

, Special Award—Non-professional, for ''Mythic Delirium'', 2019 (nominee) *''Aftermath of an Industrial Accident: Stories'',

, Best Collection, 2020 (nominee)

References

External links

* *
A Conversation with Mike Allen at The Mumpsimus
* Mike Allen's Unsettling Collection "Unseaming"br>Mike Allen: The Allure of the ForbiddenPostscripts to Darkness Author Interview: Mike Allen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Mike Poets from Virginia American science fiction writers American short story writers Living people 1969 births American male short story writers Rhysling Award for Best Long Poem winners Rhysling Award for Best Short Poem winners American male poets American male novelists Date of birth missing (living people) Novelists from Virginia 21st-century American poets 21st-century American male writers