Melissa Mitchell is a poet, author, journalist, screenwriter, and the 2024-2026 Fort Collins Poet Laureate.

 

Melissa has been a Fort Collins community member for over 20 years and has a bachelor’s degree in creative writing from Colorado State University. As a long-time writer and collaborator, Melissa strives to build community through creativity. Her focus is on the raw and untended spaces of the heart and mind. 

 

As an experienced writer and artist, Melissa has had the privilege of working on a variety of projects throughout her career. She has contributed to music magazines, served as an essayist for an online teen advice column, and developed technical training materials for both classroom and e-learning environments. Melissa was co-writer and producer of the animated children's web series, "Little Roar & His Big Family," and has coordinated and facilitated numerous community art projects and workshops. Melissa served as program director for local music and arts magazine, "Scrapped," and is honored to now hold the position of Fort Collins' newest poet laureate.

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As the 2024-2026 Fort Collins Poet Laureate, Melissa contributes to the deconstruction of barriers to self-expression and continues to pursue the mysterious truth of eco-magic.

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You can find Melissa’s work in Twenty Bellows, Blue Heron Review, Kelp Journal, Sunday Mornings at the River, Scrapped Magazine, and Gulo Gulo Magazine.

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For inquiries on past or current projects, or collaborate on a future endeavor or event, send Melissa an email. Find more information on upcoming opportunities for connection, fun interdisciplinary projects, poetry workshops, and immersive guerilla art-in-nature walks under Events.