Melanie Hess

Hi! I am Melanie Hess.

I believe that poetry reflects and reveals the world. And through poetry, we discover each other and ourselves.

As a young girl, I was entranced with William Carlos Williams’ “The Red Wheelbarrow” and I knew I wanted to write poems. There is power in words and writing them down helped me find my voice. I have been speaking out ever since.

Many notebooks and many years later, I began writing again during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sometimes my own experiences sneak into the poems.

Everyone has a unique story. I write poetic vignettes that explore the interplay between our inner selves and the spaces and places we inhabit. My poems capture the complexities and nuances of life and moments that prove insightful and consequential.

I have a bachelor’s degree in psychology, a Bachelor and Master of Social Work and a certificate in palliative care. I volunteer. I strive to help those disadvantaged by virtue of age, income, health, gender, and circumstance.

I was raised in the United States and live in British Columbia, Canada. I still dream about living (and writing) in Hawaii.

These days, I can frequently be found sitting at the water’s edge with a mochaccino.

My poems have appeared in:

Trigger Warning: An Anthology, Blood Moon Poetry

Canary Collective

Forget-Me-Not Press

Free Verse Revolution Magazine

Gypsophilia Digital Magazine

Lit eZine Magazine

100subtexts Digital Magazine

Petal Projections Magazine

Pink Apple Press