Biography

Melanie Flores (Dowhy) is a Toronto-born poet and writer.

Introduced to poetry in kindergarten, she quickly became the school poetry reciter at her Canadian/Ukrainian elementary school. After a lengthy career as an Advertising Sales Manager in business publishing, Melanie moved on to focus on her own writing, producing over a hundred pieces (poems, short stories, novella) over several years.

Melanie's work has been described as provocative and has appeared online, in print journals, and in various international and national anthologies. Melanie has won several awards for her poetry and prose. She was a judge in LCP's 2021 Jessamy Stursberg Poetry Contest. Melanie has also worked as an editor, proofreader/reader, and audiobook narrator. She has ghostwritten several memoirs while freelancing as a Senior Writer for Story Terrace.

Awards

• Daddy's Hands - 3rd place award in Dr. William Henry Drummond Poetry Contest 2023
• Dandelion Smiles - awarded 1st place in Polar Expressions 2020 Short Story Contest
• Waiting - awarded honourable mention in Polar Expressions Poetry Contest 2020
• Final Moments - awarded 1st place in Polar Expressions Poetry Contest 2017
• Ode to an Unknown Neighbour - awarded Judge's Choice in Dr. William Henry Drummond Poetry Contest 2017
• I Remember Cherries - awarded Honourable Mention (4th place) in Polar Expressions Poetry Contest 2015
• One Daughter's Mother - awarded Honourable Mention (7th place) in Polar Expressions Poetry Contest 2012

Anthologies

• Open Skies Poetry Anthology, Open Skies Press (Fall 2022) - Nightmare, Reflections in Ash, Final Moments
• (M)othering Anthology, Inanna Publications (May 2022)- Nameless
• Voicing Suicide Anthology, Ekstasis Editions (Fall 2020) - Closed Doors, Drifting
• Universal Oneness: An Anthology of Magnum Opus Poems from Around the World (2019) - Final Moments
• Dancing on Stones Anthology, TOPS (2019) - Choose to be Free, Unraveling Dorothy, I Remember Cherries

Publications

• Whisper of the Golden Feather: A Spirit Animal Chronicle, YA Novella, available on Amazon.ca, (February 2021)
• The She: An Expos, poetry chapbook, published by Subterranean Blue Poetry, (July 2019)