Mary Allen is the author of a literary memoir, The Rooms of Heaven, published by Alfred A. Knopf and Vintage Books, and a collection of personal essays, The Deep Limitless Air: A Memoir in Pieces, published by Blue Light Press. She has a regular “personal perspectives” blog on the Psychology Today website and has published short work in Poets & Writers, Real Simple, Library Journal, CNN On-line, Shenandoah, Tiferet Journal, The Chaos, and Beloit Fiction Review. She received an NEA fellowship for creative writing in 2002, won first prize in Tiferet Journal’s spiritual writing contest in 2013, and was one of two finalists in Tiferet’s spiritual writing contest in 2019. She has an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and has taught at the University of Iowa. She lives in Iowa City and is a full-time writing coach.