Melanie Sumner

Melanie Sumner, a 2010 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Literary Fellowship, is the author of the forthcoming novel, THE GHOST OF MILAGRO CREEK. Her previous books include, THE SCHOOL OF BEAUTY AND CHARM, a novel, and POLITE SOCIETY, a collection of short stories. She won the Whiting award in 1995 and was a regional winner for Granta's Best Young American Novelists competition. Her publishing history includes short fiction and creative nonfiction in many anthologies and textbooks including Best of the South, and numerous magazines and journals including The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, The New York Times, and Atlanta Magazine. She has appeared on NPR and Georgia Public Radio.

Sumner earned her MFA from Boston University and her BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has been a resident at Yaddo and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown and was the final author chosen for the Seymour Lawrence imprint. Currently she lives in Rome, Georgia with her two children, Zoë and Rider, and teaches Creative Writing at Kennesaw State University.