Kenan Visiting Writer
2006, BA English and Creative Writing, University of Wisconsin
2011, MFA Creative Writing, Nonfiction, Sarah Lawrence College
Bio
Melissa Faliveno is a writer, editor, teacher, and author of the essay collection TOMBOYLAND, published in August 2020. The former senior editor of Poets & Writers Magazine, her essays and interviews have also appeared in Esquire, Bitch, Ms., Prairie Schooner, DIAGRAM, Midwestern Gothic, and Green Mountains Review, among others, and received a notable selection in Best American Essays 2016. She has taught nonfiction writing at Sarah Lawrence College and Catapult in New York City, and is the 2020-2021 Kenan Visiting Writer at UNC Chapel Hill.
To read more, visit my websitePublications:
- TOMBOYLAND: ESSAYS (Topple Books, 2020)
- Excerpt from TOMBOYLAND: “Why Our Gender Identity Language Isn’t Enough” (Esquire, 2020)
- An Interview with Jeannie Vanasco, author of Things We Didn’t Talk About When I Was a Girl (Bitch, 2019)
- “The Finger of God” (Prairie Schooner, 2018)
- “Driftless” (Midwestern Gothic, 2015)
- “Of a Moth” (DIAGRAM, 2012)
Awards
- Millay Colony for the Arts, Winter Shakers Residency, 2018, 2019
- Runner-up, Nonfiction Contest, Prairie Schooner, 2018 (judged by Esmé Weijun Wang)
- Best American Essays notable selection, 2016
- Finalist, Nonfiction Contest, DIAGRAM, 2012 (judged by Ander Monson)
- Third-Place, Nonfiction Contest, Lumina, 2011 (judged by Vivian Gornick)
- Diana & Simon Raab Editorial Fellowship, Poets & Writers Magazine, 2011-2012
Courses Taught:
- Introduction to Creative Nonfiction (University of North Carolina)
- Magazine Writing (Sarah Lawrence College)
- Pitching & Publishing the Personal Essay (Sarah Lawrence College Writing Institute)
- The Personal Essay & Beyond (Catapult)