Melissa Scholes Young was born and raised in Hannibal, Missouri, Mark Twain’s beloved hometown, and she teaches writing at American University in Washington, D.C. She is a recovering high school English teacher and spent a few years teaching in Brazil. She earned an MFA in fiction at Southern Illinois University where she served as an assistant editor for Crab Orchard Review. She’s been nominated twice for a Pushcart Prize.

Fiction Writers Review, Mandala Journal, Mothering Magazine, New Madrid, Saw Palm, Yalobusha Review