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Melissa Scholes Young

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Melissa Scholes Young
Melissa Scholes Young at the 2018 Gaithersburg Book Festival
Born
NationalityAmerican
Alma materSouthern Illinois University (MFA)
Stetson University (MA)
Monmouth College (BA)
Occupation(s)Author, professor
EmployerAmerican University
Known forCreative Writing
Notable workFlood, "A Soft Place to Rest," American Fiction vol. 15
AwardsBread Loaf Bakeless Camargo Fellowship, 2015

Melissa Scholes Young (born 1975) is an American writer.

Life

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Scholes Young was born in Hannibal, Missouri. She graduated from Monmouth College with a BA in history, from Stetson University with an MA in education, and from Southern Illinois University with an MFA in Creative Writing.[citation needed] She is an associate professor in literature at American University.

Career

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Scholes Young edited two volumes of new work by women writers, Grace in Darkness (2018)[1] and Furious Gravity (2020),[2] which was featured on the Kojo Nnamdi Show,[3] Washington Independent Review of Books,[4][5] Medium,[6] and at Politics & Prose Bookstore.[7]

She is a contributing editor for Fiction Writers Review[8] and Editor of the Grace & Gravity anthology.[9] Her writing has appeared in American Fiction,[10] The Atlantic,[11] Literary Hub,[12] Ms. Magazine,[13] Narrative, Origins Literary Magazine,[14] Ploughshares, Poet Lore, Poets & Writers,[15] The Washington Independent Review of Books,[16] and The Washington Post.[17]

Scholes Young attended the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference in 2014 and was awarded the Bread Loaf Bakeless Camargo Fellowship in 2015.[18]

She also published her debut novel, Flood, in 2017.[19] The novel received reviews from residents and press[20][21][22] in Hannibal, Missouri: Scholes Young's hometown, Mark Twain's hometown, and the setting and inspiration of the novel.[23] The novel also received attention from the literary community in Washington, D.C.[24][25] and brought rise to Scholes Young's creative writing career as an emerging author in the nation's capital.[26]

Scholes Young, sharing a hometown with Mark Twain, has written fiction[27][28][29] that reimagines Tom and Huck's famous friendship as female and scholarship[30] concerned with the character portrayal of Becky Thatcher.[31][32]

Scholes Young's second novel, The Hive,[33] is forthcoming in 2021 from Turner Publishing.[34] The novel has been optioned by Sony Entertainment.[35]

She teaches in the Department of Literature at American University in Washington, D.C. where she champions first-generation student issues.[36][37]

References

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  1. ^ "grace in darkness". Grace and Gravity. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  2. ^ "home". Grace and Gravity. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  3. ^ "D.C.'s Literary Women Are The Force Behind "Furious Gravity"". The Kojo Nnamdi Show. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  4. ^ "Stretching the Table | Washington Independent Review of Books". www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  5. ^ "A Socially Distanced Debut | Washington Independent Review of Books". www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  6. ^ Leistra, Matt (2020-05-02). "Local Artist Scores Cover of Literature Anthology". 730DC. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  7. ^ Furious Gravity, 12 May 2020, retrieved 2023-04-28
  8. ^ "Melissa Scholes Young". Fiction Writers Review. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  9. ^ Scholes Young, Melissa, “Oxygen in Use,” Abundant Grace, Paycock Press, 2016.
  10. ^ "American Fiction: Volume 15 | New Rivers Press". 2016-11-02. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  11. ^ Young, Melissa Scholes. "Melissa Scholes Young". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  12. ^ "On the Extravagance of Mark Twain's Family Dishes". Literary Hub. 2020-11-24. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  13. ^ Spillar, Kathy (2021-02-22). "The Ms. Must-Read: 'What Kind of America Will This Be?'". Ms. Magazine. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  14. ^ ""The Politics of Dialect" by Melissa Scholes Young". Origins. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  15. ^ "A Residency of One's Own: Navigating the Complicated Path to a Writers Retreat". Poets & Writers. 2016-02-10. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  16. ^ "Washington Independent Review of Books". www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  17. ^ "Why teachers struggle to teach their own children". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  18. ^ "Middlebury Bread Loaf Writers' Conferences". www.middlebury.edu. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  19. ^ Flood, Center Street, Hachette Book Group, 2017, ISBN 978-1-4789-7078-1.
  20. ^ "Friends, Family and Floods". Boone County Journal. 2017-07-12. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  21. ^ "Hannibal native debuts first novel". Hannibal.net. 19 June 2017. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  22. ^ Szatala, Ashley (24 June 2017). "Hannibal native publishes debut novel, draws inspiration from Twain". Herald-Whig. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  23. ^ Ohanesian, Aline. "Holding Difficult Truths: An Interview with Melissa Scholes Young". Fiction Writers Review. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  24. ^ "Meet Melissa Scholes Young | Washington Independent Review of Books". www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  25. ^ "Seeing Your Hometown Through the Fresh Eyes of Fiction". Literary Hub. 2017-06-30. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  26. ^ Handscombe, Claire, "5 D.C. authors you should know (and their latest books)", DC Refined, May 18, 2017.
  27. ^ Donnell, Kevin Mac (2017-11-07). "Mark Twain Forum Reviews – Flood: A Novel by Melissa Scholes Young". Center for Mark Twain Studies. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  28. ^ Lemak, Joe (2018-10-18). "Author of Award-Winning Novel "Flood" Continues the Fall Trouble Begins Series". Center for Mark Twain Studies. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  29. ^ jmwwblog (2017-07-19). "Excerpt: Flood by Melissa Scholes Young". JMWW. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  30. ^ "Mark Twain Journal". THE MARK TWAIN JOURNAL. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  31. ^ "2019 Quarry Farm Fellows". Center for Mark Twain Studies. 2019-01-22. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  32. ^ Young, Melissa Scholes (2019-12-23). "The Crane House Speaks (A Quarry Farm Testimonial)". Center for Mark Twain Studies. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  33. ^ Featured on Bookshop.org
  34. ^ Turner Publishing
  35. ^ Media, Dreamscape. "Dreamscape Media Inks Exclusive Worldwide Audio Partnership with Turner Publishing Company". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  36. ^ Housman |, Patty (25 October 2016). "First-Gen Welcome". American University. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  37. ^ "First-gen professors reach out to first-gen students," Education Advisory Board, May 11, 2016.
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