Creative & Career Highlights
- The Aurora Summit
Co-Founder & Conference Host, 2017 – Present - NASA Social Media Ambassador
ESA Solar Orbiter Launch, February 2020 - Social Gap Experiment Anthology
Creator of the Social Gap Experiment and Editor of Creative Anthology, 2020 - Grand River Writers Guild
Founder of Fiction Writers Critique Group, 2019
Books & Chapbooks
- Hope in the Hoarfrost
Author, Poetry Chapbook, Self-published in 2016 - We Had To Go On Living
Cover Artist, Red Bird Chapbooks, Featured in 2013
Literary Journals & Anthologies
- Social Gap Experiment Anthology, Editor & Nonfiction Contributor, December 2020
- REO Town Reading Series Anthology, Fiction Contributor, October 2020
- The Wild Word, “#44: Celestial,” Poetry, November 2019
- Still Point Arts Quarterly, Short Story, Winter 2018
- The Aurorean, Poetry, Spring 2018
- Dispatch Literary Journal, Poem, 2005
Social Media Influencer
- Founder of Michigan Aurora Chasers, January 2021
- NASA Social Media Ambassador, Solar Orbiter Launch, February 2020
- Social Media Forum Host, Various Nonprofits, 2012-2020
- Museum Instameet Host, Minnesota Historical Society, 2015
- Social Media Panelist, Minnesota State Government Symposium, 2015
- Mall of America Tweet Up Host, St. Catherine University Shout Out Event, 2013
Magazines & Nonfiction
Area Voices: Astro Bob’s Astronomy for Everyone, 2020
- MSU Today Contributor, 2019 – Present
- ComArtSci Today, 2018 – Present
- Minnesota Monthly, Cover Story, 2016
- City Pages, 2013 – 2016
- Scene in the West Metro, 2016
- Minnesota Historical Society Magazine, 2015
- Mitchell on Law, William Mitchell College of Law, 2014 – 2015
- SCAN: St. Catherine University Magazine, 2011 – 2013
- Portraits Magazine, 2008 – 2011
Public Speaking Appearances
- Aurora Folklore & Mythology, Aurora Summit Presenter, 2017, 2019
- Inkwell Poetry Reading Series: Featured Author, 2019
- East Lansing Art Festival Main Stage, Fiction 440 Event, 2019
- Fiction 440, Various Performances
— May 18, 2019: #54 Winsome, Whale, Wonder
— Sept. 24, 2019: #56 Starlight, Exhausted, Price
— Jan. 7, 2020: #58 Hazard, Bounce, Tonic
— Mar. 11, 2020: #60 Conquest, Sushi, Lure
— Oct. 20, 2020: #62 Fall, Fire, Fanciful - The Poetry Room, Various Performances
— Aug. 13, 2019: Season Three
— Nov. 11, 2019: Survivor Series
— Dec. 7, 2019: Promise
— Jan. 14, 2020: Dirty Laundry
— Mar. 10, 2020: Recovery Room
— Apr. 10, 2020: Last Words - REO Town Reading Series, Author Reading, 2019
— May 30, 2019: Volume 13 | Presenting “Look Up”
— Feb. 27, 2020: Volume 16 | Presenting “BlackJack & The Dawn of Dark Pollution”
— Jan. 21, 2021: Fireside Chat 9 | Presenting Poetry & A Novel Excerpt, “Aurora Chasing on the Escarpment” - Careers in Journalism, Media & Writing, Various Colleges & Clubs, 2013 – 2018
- Minnesota Congressional Race, Political Debate Moderator, 2016
- Great Lakes Aurora Hunters Gathering, Presenter 2015 – 2016
- BrandLab Youth Field Trip, Guest Speaker, 2015
Honors & Awards
- ADDY Awards in Mid-Michigan, Bronze in Online/Interactive Digital Communications, ComArtSci Today, 2020
- Medallion Awards, 2nd Place Best College Newsletter, 2017
- City Pages, Best of the Arts Blog, 2013
- Capture Minnesota, Photo of the Day, 2013
- Loft Literary Center, Short Poem Award, 2011
- Minnesota Newspaper Association, 2nd Place Social Issues Reporting, 2010
Newspaper Writing
With years of experience in journalism, Melissa has written hundreds of articles and feature stories for community newspapers. Selected publications include:
- The Associated Press
- Sun Newspapers
- Carver County News
- Owatonna People’s Press
- Waseca County News
- The Madison Press
Art Exhibits
- Still Point X, Online Exhibition for Still Point Art Gallery, 2018
— Painting selected for publication in Still Point Arts Quarterly literary journal - Art: Diverse Perspectives Through Local Eyes, Art Works Eagan, 2017
- Wintry Art Exhibit, Eagan Dunn Bros., 2015
- Art-A-Whirl, Northrup King Building Open Studio Tour, 2014
- First Thursdays in the Arts District, Exhibiting Artist, 2014
- Thirty Years of Hope, Cargill Gallery, Minneapolis Central Library, 2013. A joint effort by Altered Esthetics and Hennepin County Library, for the MN AIDS Project.
- Summer Art Exhibit, Apple Valley Dunn Bros., 2013
