Melissa McKinstry hosts quarterly poetry and jazz evenings and curates a community Poet Tree in San Diego. Her poetry appears in many journals including Beloit, Adroit, and Best New Poets 2023, and has been selected for a 2026 Pushcart Prize. An Adroit Djanikian Scholar and the inaugural writer-in-residence at the Millay House Rockland, she currently serves on the Alumni Council for Pacific University’s MFA program and the Board of the Millay House Rockland.

Melissa grew up on small farms in Oregon and Washington and later earned a BA in English Literature at the University of Washington. In 2022 she earned her MFA in poetry at Pacific University. She offers craft talks, workshops, and readings in person and online. She is research, editorial, and production assistant for poet Ellen Bass.

Recent Honors
2025
-selected as the 2025 New Ohio Review Poetry Contest Winner by Ted Kooser
-awarded Pushcart Prize, 2026 Pushcart Prize L: Best of the Small Presses
-selected as third prize in the Red Wheelbarrow Prize by Stephen Kuusisto
-awarded third prize, Frontier Poetry, Ode on a Grecian Vacation Challenge
-selected as finalist, The Missouri Review Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize
-selected as emcee, Pacific University MFA in Writing Program January residency

2024
-selected as inaugural writer-in-residence at Millay House Rockland by Mark Doty
-selected as a Djanikian Scholar in Poetry at The Adroit Journal
-selected for honorable mention, Ploughshares Emerging Writer’s Contest
-selected as second place, The Maine Review Environs Prize
-selected as finalist, Tupelo Quarterly Poetry Prize
-selected as finalist, Ninth Letter Literary Awards
-selected as semifinalist, Persea Lexi Rudnitsky First Book Prize
-selected as finalist, Autumn House Rising Writer Prize