Melissa Wiley

Creative Nonfiction Writer

Chicago, IL
Illinois US
Twitter/X: 

Author's Bio

Melissa Wiley won the 2019 Autumn House Press Full-Length Nonfiction Contest, judged by Paul Lisicky, for her book "Skull Cathedral," interweaving reflections on the body’s vestigial organs with autobiographical fragments. She is also author of the personal essay collection "Antlers in Space and Other Common Phenomena" (Split/Lip Press, 2017), and her fiction and essays have appeared in places like American Literary Review, Terrain.org, The Rumpus, Entropy, DIAGRAM, Phoebe, Waxwing, The Offing, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, and PANK. She serves as nonfiction editor for Sundog Lit and development associate for MAKE Literary Productions. 

Publications & Prizes

Books:
Skull Cathedral: A Vestigial Anatomy (Autumn House Press, 2020)
,
Antlers in Space (Split Lip Press, 2017)
Prizes won: 

2019 Autumn House Press Full-Length Nonfiction Contest, judged by Paul Lisicky,

Birdwhistle Prize in Nonfiction: Noble / Gas Qtrly,

Sara Patton Nonfiction Stipend: The Writer's Hotel

 

Personal Favorites

Favorite authors: 
George Saunders, Han Kang, Alice Munro
What I'm reading now: 
Underland by Robert MacFarlane, A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
American
Fluent in: 
English
Born in: 
Raised in: 
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: May 19, 2020