Patrice Melnick is a writer, arts administrator and arts activist. She is the founder of the Festival of Words, a rural, literary arts organization in St. Landry Parish. Melnick taught English and creative writing at Xavier University in New Orleans for 13 years and also taught a Literary Nonfiction Workshop in the low-residency MFA program at the University of New Orleans. Patrice Melnick holds a B.A. in English from the University of Texas at Austin, and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. She has been honored for both her writing and community contributions. Her poem “Tattoos and Birthmarks,” was awarded 3rd prize in Federico Garcia Lorca Poetry Prize (2013). She was named as one of the Louisianians of the Year by Louisiana Life Magazine, 2019; Outstanding Educator of the year by Lafayette Parish Democratic party, 2018 and in April, 2013 she received a Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Award for Public Programming. In 2014, she received the Oliver-Sigur Humanitarian Award from The Louisiana Council on Human Relations. Patrice Melnick’s publications include a poetry chapbook, The City of Hey Baby (Finishing Line Press) and a memoir, Po-boy Contraband: from Diagnosis Back to Life (Catalyst Press). Poems and essays have appeared in many literary journals including Prism International, Red Brick Review and Grain. She lives in Grand Coteau with her patient husband Olan. For a day job, Melnick directs the Opelousas Museum and Interpretive Center.