Melissa Lore

If you’re going through hell, keep going.

Winston Churchill

Melissa Lore is a transplant to New Hampshire from rural Northern California. Prior to Vital, she worked as a freelance copywriter for a client roster that included Nickelodeon, Chewy Granola, and UnderArmour, to name a few. Melissa also served as a Content Strategist at Tiny Bully (formerly MicroArts) and as a course writer for the online Jazz Studies program at Columbia University. Needless to say, she’s been prepped for the eclectic nature of the writer’s life at Vital.

Melissa lives with her husband, two kids, two fluffy sheepadoodles, and two white mice. She has more books on her nightstand than she will ever be able to read.

Fiction shortlisted for 2020 Mid-American Review Prize

Fiction shortlisted for the 2021 Masters Review

Published in ZZYZYVA

Split Lip

The Normal School


  • Joined Vital ’21
  • MicroArts
  • Columbia University

  • Columbia University, ‘09 MFA
  • Pomona College, ‘99 BA

Random Bits

  • I was the honorary postmistress of Osaka for the 50th anniversary of Japan’s Postal Service.
  • Both my children were born in a third-floor walkup apartment in Brooklyn.
  • My rap name is GosHawk.
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Walking my sheepadoodles

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Revising my novel

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Achieving Genius status on the NY Times Spelling Bee

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Performing with Rock Street, my family’s kid-friendly hip-hop band