How many ways can the world end? In fire. In ice. In howls of laughter or tears of madness. As a flip cosmic joke or a tragedy of love destroyed. In private agony or sweeping apocalypse. In our ignorance we turn to the dead for enlightenment, but even they despair of the answer. In STRANGE WISDOMS OF THE DEAD, award-winning poet Mike Allen's first book-length collection, the mysticism of tarot fuses with the magic of the Mayans, and childhood nightmares caress your face in the middle of the night. A playful kick sends Earth out of orbit, plots to steal time are thwarted, windows pulse with ghostly breath. The sacrifice of a daughter damns the world, and the dead struggle to communicate a fate beyond all understanding. These poems and stories, spanning a ten-year career on the cutting edge of the alternative press, take you through bends in reality to bring you to places you've never imagined.
Mike Allen works as the arts and culture columnist for the daily newspaper in Roanoke, Va., where he lives with his wife Anita, a goofy dog, and two cats with varying degrees of psychosis.
In his spare time he does a ridiculous number of things, including editing the critically-acclaimed anthology series CLOCKWORK PHOENIX and the long-running poetry journal MYTHIC DELIRIUM. His own poetry has won the Rhysling Award three times, and his fiction has been nominated for the Nebula Award. His short stories have popped up in places like WEIRD TALES, INTERZONE, and the anthologies SKY WHALES AND OTHER WONDERS, CTHULHU'S REIGN and STEAM-POWERED.
He's also recorded podcasts for STARSHIPSOFA and CLARKESWORLD MAGAZINE and participated in local improv theater, where he's often asked to provide the voice of an Ominous Narrator or play the part of Satan.
