Melissa Brewer

Melissa Brewer is a professional freelance writer from the Washington DC area. She has been writing since she was a teenager and began her publishing career at the age of 15 when her first poem was published in a literary magazine for young adults. She began writing articles for magazine and web-based publications at the age of 21, and has worked as a freelance writer with a variety of business clients around the world for the past four years.

After returning to college part-time, Melissa made the decision to return to the roots of her passion for writing and concentrate on the creation of new creative work. She returned to writing poetry and limited the scope of her professional clients to part-time projects to strike a balance between her passion and her vocation. In between residencies, she has worked in an unusual variety of temporary jobs, including caring for Alzheimer’s patients, handing out candy samples to tourists in DC, and working as a “counselor” at a camp for adult off-roading Jeep adventures.

This past year has created many opportunities to concentrate on writing and gaining new experiences to write about. The path to the Kerouac House has been paved in small adventures, including a two-month tenure as Writer-in-Residence at the Montana Artist’s Refuge, in the tiny mining town of Basin, Montana.

Melissa Brewer is currently working on completing a large collection of poems and a series of short stories at the Kerouac House. When she returns home, she plans to continue writing, locate a publisher, and pursue a degree in creative writing. She is also plans to become involved with local projects that bring the arts into public schools.