Allen has had two collections of poetry published by
New Binary Press, The Madhouse System (2016) Both of his collections have been positively reviewed. Reviewing Allen's work in
Southword journal, Roisin Kelly writes: "These are the words we need to hear in times like these. I am glad that Allen has seen fit to tell us what we are in danger of forgetting." Allen's first collection of poetry,
The One That Got Away, was shortlisted for the 2015 Shine/Strong Award, while the manuscript was nominated for
Salt Publishing's Crashaw Prize His poetry has appeared in literary journals like
Southword,
The Stinging Fly,
Poetry Ireland Review, and
The Rialto. In 2016, Allen was included in a special issue of the
Poetry Ireland Review entitled,
The Rising Generation. Edited by
Vona Groarke, the issue consisted of a selection of poets considered to be the new voices of literary Ireland. His ‘’Bright Star: Elegy for David Bowie’’ was RTE Poem of the Week in December 2016. Allen is the author of
Holes, a work of
digital poetry.
Holes is a ten syllable one line per day poem which began on 23 December 2006. Also published by New Binary Press, the work has drawn the attention and elicited a positive response from scholars and critics. In 2017, Holes released a limited edition print edition of the poem's first decade of lines. In 2017, Allen co-edited
The Elysian: Creative Responses (
New Binary Press) with fellow Irish author Billy Ramsell, an anthology of works inspired by
The Elysian building in
Cork city. The anthology features a number of prominent figures, including
Cónal Creedon,
Doireann Ní Ghríofa,
Frank McDonald,
Madeleine D'Arcy, E. R. Murray, and
Patrick Cotter. ==Personal life==