Self-portrait
Melissa Allen (born Melissa Lynn Allen, February 6, 1969, Torrington, Connecticut, U.S.A.), American technical writer and editor and haiku and haibun poet. She holds degrees in Russian language and literature and library science. Her haiku and haibun have been widely published and anthologized since 2010, including in Jim Kacian, Philip Rowland, and Allan Burns, eds., Haiku in English: The First Hundred Years (2013) and several of Lee Gurga and Scott Metz’s annual “100 notable ku” collections. On two occasions haiku of hers were shortlisted for the Touchstone Awards and she was a winner in 2012. Allen has edited for Haijinx, Haibun Today, Bones, and the Haiku Society of America, has served on the advisory board of the American Haiku Archives, and is the author of the haiku blog Red Dragonfly. She resides in Madison, Wisconsin.
Note: This is an abstract of a longer biographical article to come.