Mike Allen returns as MC for Readercon's Rhysling Award "poetry slan." He's the editor of the critically-acclaimed Clockwork Phoenix anthology series, and also the poetry journal Mythic Delirium, now in its 13^th year. His horror story "The Button Bin" was a finalist for the 2008 Nebula Award for Best Short Story, and he's a three-time winner of the Rhysling Award for best speculative poem. His published work includes thirty-five short fictions, more than two hundred poems, and five collections of poetry. At present he's smack dab in the middle of the second draft of his first novel, a dark and surreal Appalachian Gothic. A sequel to "Button Bin," called "The Quiltmaker," is also making the submission rounds.

Stories of his have appeared in Interzone, Weird Tales, Pseudopod, Podcastle, Apex Magazine and the anthologies Sky Whales and Other Wonders (Norilana, 2009) and Cthulhu's Reign (DAW, 2010). His most recent tale to debut in print is the novelette "Sleepless, Burning Life" in the first volume of JoSelle Vanderhooft's ground-breaking anthology Steam-Powered: Lesbian Steampunk Stories (Torquere Press, 2011).

All that creative writing stuff happens in his spare time: by day, he's the arts columnist for The Roanoke (Va.) Times. Along with his wife Anita—who helps edit Clockwork Phoenix and Mythic Delirium—his household includes two domineering cats and a neurotic dog, none of whom help with the editing in any direct way.