Melissa J. Denzer
About Melissa
Education
Melissa is a University professional, writer, Midwest-based dramaturg, educator, and student scholar. Melissa Denzer graduated from the University of Iowa with a B.A. in English and Creative Writing, a minor in Theater Arts studies, and a certificate in Fundraising and Philanthropy as of August 2019 and obtained her M.A. in Theatre Arts as of December 2020 from Fontbonne University. Denzer is currently in a Creative Writing MFA Program at Concordia University which began in the fall of 2022. She will graduate as of Fall of 2024.
Study Abroad
During her undergraduate studies, Melissa participated in a six-week study abroad workshop program to complete her degree at Iowa. She studied in Dublin, Ireland where she strengthened her dramatic and literary skills with the Irish Writers Program. While abroad, Melissa studied creative nonfiction, as well as Irish drama, poetry, and fiction. She viewed six new works and classic dramatic productions as well as wrote six weeks' worth of literary research, poetry, and articles in both Irish and English studies.
Masters
After studying at Iowa, Melissa obtained her M.A. in Theatre Arts at Fontbonne University in St. Louis, Missouri. Her experience ranges from new play development processes and production dramaturgy to her mentorship experience with the University of Iowa and Fontbonne Theatre Departments with colleagues and faculty. In her master's program, Melissa focused her studies on directing, dramaturgy, and production experience based predominately on adaptations, social justice, and new play development in addition to strengthening her literary studies through coursework.
In her current MFA program for Creative Writing, Denzer focuses on the process of novel writing in the genre of fiction. By the end of the MFA, Denzer will have completed a book-length manuscript of her own novel. After completing this fully online program, Melissa will have strengthened her skillsets to enable her to pursue a number of opportunities in literature and continue to write professionally. She plans to continue to work on her novel and submit other projects for publication when the opportunities arise.
Projects
Denzer is currently in collaboration as a writer, artist, dramaturg, and director through her MFA and St. Louis regional theatre community. Her work focuses on her background as a dramaturg, reader, playwright, editorial assistant, and writer. In the past five years Denzer has had a diverse set of opportunities in the humanities to explore her theater and literary background. Such opportunities included Denzer's work in freelance as an editor for the online magazine, The Theatre Times, writing and copyediting articles and as a teaching artist for several outreach programs for theatre arts in the St. Louis community. This includes working as a teaching artist with Springboard to Learning and STAGES; two nonprofits that connect artists to school districts for education and arts-based learning collaboration. In addition, Denzer had the opportunity to work as a teaching artist for Stage Play Learning, a children's theatre in Edwardsville, IL with instructional and performance-based work. She now writes for literary publications in her spare time.
Present Work
Day to day, Melissa works at Washington University as a Coordinator for University Advancement, utilizing her nonprofit background for the Fundraising and Scholarship sectors to update its current Donor Database in the ARCH program. This year, Denzer began pursuing her MFA in Creative Writing at Concordia University St. Paul remotely. She aims to finish by 2024 before exploring more opportunities in her career.
In her program she studies how to master writing of all mediums including her novel-in-progress while simultaneously pursuing writing projects such as poetry and prose in the program. The course curriculum also adheres to lessons on publishing, marketing, and literary analysis.
Denzer's primary focus and passion in her career is to create a community impact through creative outlets. In order to explore this aspiration, she has adapted her experience to include a diverse set of employment and skillsets for this pursuit, whether that be in marketing and fundraising at a university, or as a dramaturg for a small theater for new plays. Melissa works to explore any opportunity to pursue this passion that she can through her background. She looks forward to prospective future projects and endeavors to come in this pursuit.
Click below to view documents:
Graduate Transcript, MFA (so far)
