Join us for a fantasy book talk with amazing authors, Mike Allen and C. S. E. Cooney. They will be discussing the genre and Mike Allen's recently released novel, The Black Fire Concerto.

Date: July 12th at 7pm

Location: Kew & Willow Books

About the authors:

Mike Allen wears many creative hats: As an author, editor, and publisher of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, he has written, edited, or co-edited thirty-nine books. Unseaming and Aftermath of an Industrial Accident, his first two volumes of horror tales, were both finalists for the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Story Collection, and his dark fable “The Button Bin” was a nominee for the Nebula Award for Best Short Story. He’s also a three-time winner of the Rhysling Award for poetry. His six poetry collections include Strange Wisdoms of the Dead, a Philadelphia Inquirer Editor’s Choice selection, and Hungry Constellations, a Suzette Haden Elgin Award nominee.

As an editor and publisher, Mike has been nominated twice for the World Fantasy Award: first, for his anthology Clockwork Phoenix 5, the culmination of the Clockwork Phoenix series showcasing tales of beauty and strangeness that defy genre classification; and then, for Mythic Delirium, the magazine of poetry and fiction he edited for twenty years.

C. S. E. Cooney is a two-time World Fantasy Award-winning author: for novel Saint Death’s Daughter, and collection Bone Swans, Stories. Her most recent book Saint Death’s Herald came out in April 2025 from Solaris. As a voice actor, Cooney has narrated over 130 audiobooks, short fiction and poetry for podcasts, and actual plays of D&D on Twitch and YouTube. In March 2023, she produced her collaborative sci-fi musical, Ballads from a Distant Star, at New York City’s Arts on Site. Forthcoming from Outland Entertainment is the GM-less TTRPG Negocios Infernales, co-designed with her husband, writer and game-designer Carlos Hernandez. Find her website, Substack newsletter, and various social media under “csecooney.”