Melani Martinez was born and raised in Tucson, AZ. After completing a BA in Creative Writing from the University of Arizona, Melani attended Goucher College's low-residency program for an MFA in Creative Nonfiction. She is the recipient of Fourth Genre's 1st Place Editor's Prize, the Chris White Award, 1st place in The Writers Alliance of Gainesville Bacopa Contest, and 2nd place in the Tucson Festival of Books Literary Prize. Currently, Melani is working on a manuscript entitled The Molino, a story of the closing of her family's sixty-seven year old food store in downtown Tucson. She has taught writing at Pima Community College since 2009 and in 2014 joined the adjunct faculty of the University of Arizona.