Michael Nathan Scharf (born January 6, 1969, in Albany, New York) is an American poet and critic. Scharf's poetry "mimics a vernacular language so debased it does actual harm." He was poetry reviews editor at Publishers Weekly from 1997 until 2006. At Poets & Writers magazine, he founded and wrote the column Metromania. In 1999, he founded Harry Tankoos Books, which publishes books and chapbooks; in 2006, with the poet Joshua Clover, he co-founded the small press , publisher of Kevin Killian's Action Kylie, among other books. He holds an A.B. in cognitive science from Vassar College, and a M.A. in linguistics from Brown University. His work has appeared in Chain, ubuweb, Jacket, the Germ, and the Poetry Daily Essentials anthology.