Melissa got her start in the storytelling world at Geist in the late 1990s, which led to her taking over the magazine’s regular “pretend cartographer” feature and, eventually, to very fun projects like The Geist Atlas of Canada (a “collection of strange cartographies”) and a decade spent managing the notorious 3-Day Novel Contest and editing for its book imprint. Her writing and editing career has since continued to deliver surprises and gifts, including the opportunity to tell the stories of prison wardens, executive chefs, brain surgeons, Olympic coaches, NICU nurses, ape researchers, investment bankers, bridge designers, AI developers, divorce lawyers, and people who make food out of bugs. (Yes, she tried one, and no, it wasn’t her bag.)
Six-word memoir
Always looking for the connecting thread.
Favourite book
A Short History of Progress by Ronald Wright
Deepest fear
Being afraid of the wrong things.
