About

I’m an award-winning writer and audio producer. My work has appeared in major media outlets including The New York Times, The Walrus, The Globe & Mail, Literary Review and on the CBC Radio programs IDEAS, Tapestry, The Sunday Edition, The Current and Writers & Company.

In 2019, I was selected as one of five Rising Stars by the Writers’ Trust of Canada. My fiction writing has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council.

I have a Ph.D. in American history and have taught at McGill University, the University of Virginia, the University of Toronto and in partnership with the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 2020-2021, I was the New Media & Public Humanities Fellow at the Jackman Humanities Institute at the University of Toronto.

After living in Montreal, northern California and Charlottesville, VA, I’ve recently returned home to Toronto. You can reach me at melissa.j.gismondi[at]proton[dot]me. I’m also on Substack, where I explore all things storytelling.