Michael Thomas Taren was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. His poems have been published in HTMLGIANT, The Claudius App, and Fence, and are forthcoming in Bestoned. He spent nine months in Slovenia on a Fulbright Scholarship (2010–2011). His manuscripts Puberty and Where is Michael were finalists for the Fence Modern Poets Series in 2009 and 2010, respectively.