Phyllis Irene Radford

Phyllis Irene Radford is a science fiction and fantasy writer and anthology editor who also publishes as Irene Radford, P. R. Frost, and C. F. Bentley. Her editorial work ranges across steampunk, speculative history, folklore, and themed short fiction. How Beer Saved the World is one of several anthologies she edited for Sky Warrior Books, alongside Gears and Levers, First Contact Cafe, and the sequel How Beer Saved the World II. Under her legal name, Radford has also collaborated with editors including Deborah J. Ross, Laura Anne Gilman, Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, and Brenda W. Clough. Her own account distinguishes this anthology work from the novels issued under her other names. A museum-trained historian with a long interest in material culture and the past, she brings that background to collections that invite multiple writers to reinterpret a common premise. It also sits within her sustained editorial practice. How Beer Saved the World therefore represents Radford's role as a curator of speculative voices as much as her career as an individual storyteller.