Poetry Collection
Arthurian Things: A Collection of Poems. Dark Myth Publications, February 2020. Winning manuscript, JayZoMon/ World of Myth Open Contract Challenge. Nominated for the 2022 Elgin Award for Best Book of Speculative Poetry from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association.
Available for purchase through Myth Mart: https://www.mythmart.com/product-page/arthurian-things-a-collection-of-poems
Reviewed on SpecPo: https://specpo.wordpress.com/2021/12/17/arthurian-things-a-review/
Reviewed at The Compulsive Reader: http://www.compulsivereader.com/2022/08/07/a-review-of-arthurian-things-a-collection-of-poems-by-melissa-ridley-elmes/?fbclid=IwAR2attn-yPfwHss8wxzhgKqY10FUXty-guxlDmIe-0sCasBn_4LcjWZFkyU
“Old legends through the voices of the “things and beasts” therein,” Interview with Melissa Ridley Elmes for Interstellar Flight Press, by T.D. Walker: https://magazine.interstellarflightpress.com/old-legends-through-the-voices-of-the-things-and-beasts-therein-e59cb54a98e3
Goodreads page for Arthurian Things
Sneak peek: ToC and “The Pigeon on the Parapet”
Poetry
Dream Visions.” Eccentric Orbits 4: 103–05.
“Three Haiku to Chill the Spine.” Eccentric Orbits 4: 64.
“The Quiet Moments.” Eccentric Orbits 4: 35.
“Nailbiter.” Cathexis Northwest Press (May/June 2023): 21.
“Grendel’s Mother.” Star*Line 46.2 (2023).
“An Existential Child.” Red Coyote 21 (2022): 81-82.
“November 15.” Red Coyote 21 (2022): 83.
“This Risky Business of Mortal Being.” Poetry South 14 (2022): 9. Nominated for the 2022 Pushcart Prize.
“Evolution of a Younger God.” Penumbra 3 (2022): 164.
“Army Brat on Oahu, 1980-1982.” Black Fox Literary Magazine 24 (2022): 40–43.
“In the Beginning.” Spectral Realms 17 (2022), 59.
“How the World Ends.” Spectral Realms 17 (2022), 106.
“Dragons and Drams.” Liquid Imagination, June 2022. https://liquidimagination.silverpen.org/article/dragons-and-drams-by-melissa-ridley-elmes/
“Every Light a Threshold.” Haven 4 (May/June 2022): 48.
“What the Old Woman Knows.” Listen to Her, 23 March 2022. Longlisted for the 2022 SFPA Dwarf Star award for short poetry. https://lieberman.domains.unf.edu/s22/a-sensorial-what-the-old-woman-knows-by-melissa-ridley-elmes/?fbclid=IwAR0cByrmuGFdtPA3Kh8ljZGojO3Lk36T3vZfXQ6pfv4sv-Pkcd28qwxpPVQ
“A Sensorial.” Listen to Her, 23 March 2022. https://lieberman.domains.unf.edu/s22/a-sensorial-what-the-old-woman-knows-by-melissa-ridley-elmes/?fbclid=IwAR0cByrmuGFdtPA3Kh8ljZGojO3Lk36T3vZfXQ6pfv4sv-Pkcd28qwxpPVQ
“Drown-Skin Girl.” Illumen (Winter 2022), 49.
“Starfall.” Spectral Realms 16. Nominated for the 2023 SFPA Rhysling Award for best shorter speculative poem.
“Date Night.” Spectral Realms 16. Longlisted for the 2023 Dwarf Star award by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association.
“Mukkelevi.” Spectral Realms 16.
”Winter Thesaurus.” Gyroscope Review 22.1: 11.
“Never Was a Princess Girl.” Star*Line 45.1: 4. Longlisted for the 2023 Dwarf Star award by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association.
“Sir Gawain Gets His First Glimpse of the Green Knight.” Calling the Beginning, ed. Ruchi Acharya. Wingless Dreamer Press, 74.
“The Sea Shares Her Origin Story.” Eye to the Telescope 42 (2021). https://eyetothetelescope.com/
“Reverie.” In Parentheses 7.2 (2021): 14.
“On Death.” In Parentheses 7.2 (2021): 14.
“Riding Down a Dream.” Star*Line 44.4, October 2021: 40. Longlisted for the 2022 Dwarf Star award by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association.
“Green,” In Parentheses Magazine 7.1, summer 2021: https://inparentheses.art/2021/07/15/contributor-list-in-parentheses-volume-7-issue-1/
“Summerstorm in Five Acts: a Drama,” Gyroscope Review, Summer 2021: https://www.gyroscopereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GR-Summer-2021-for-Website.pdf
“Trust issues,” Thimble Literary Magazine, February 2021: https://www.thimblelitmag.com/2021/02/18/trust-issues/
Akasha.” North Carolina Bards Anthology of Poetry, ed. James P. Wagner. Long Island: Local Gems Poetry Press, 2020: 22-23.
“Shadow-Dwellers.” Spillwords. April 2020. https://spillwords.com/shadow-dwellers/
“Lines.” Spillwords. March 2020. https://spillwords.com/lines-by-melissa-ridley-elmes/
“Raymond’s Choice.” The World of Myth. February 2019. http://jayzohub.com/darkmythproductions/theworldofmyth/70/poems/raymonds_choice.html
“The Witness.” 2010 Poetry Journal, Donna Brauda, Ed. CreateSpace, 2009.
“Upon Viewing Gentile da Fabriano’s Adoration of the Magi.” 2010 Poetry Journal, Donna Brauda, Ed. CreateSpace, 2009.
“Identity Crisis.” Ink Quarterly. 3:1 (Winter 2007-2008). 11.
“Big Top Cycle.” Sweetbay Anthology. Prize Books, 2006. 50-53.
“The World According to Anna.” International Library of Poetry, 2006. 13.
“Waste Knot, Want Naught.” The Blotter. July, 2006. 13.
Fiction
“The Haunted and The Possessed.” Unwelcomed: Stories of Hauntings and Possessions, ed. Stephanie J. Bardy (Zombie Works Publications, 2022), 45-54.
“When the Elves Are Gone,” part three. The World of Myth Magazine. October 2022. https://jayzohub.com/darkmythproductions/theworldofmyth/112/fantasy/when_the_elves_are_gone/when_the_elves_are_gone.html?fbclid=IwAR2ErKkUK3-w0L_RztIEQMG_qLBl2XQT638cal_-MCtQXJ9x_xItQAl5zls
“When the Elves Are Gone,” part two. The World of Myth Magazine. September 2022. https://jayzohub.com/darkmythproductions/theworldofmyth/111/fantasy/when_the_elves_are_gone/when_the_elves_are_gone.html
“When the Elves Are Gone, Part 1.” World of Myth Magazine. August 2022. https://jayzohub.com/darkmythproductions/theworldofmyth/110/fantasy/when_the_elves_are_gone/when_the_elves_are_gone.html?fbclid=IwAR2g1gLH0qctmBZt5OnGQS26n1I1CKBagOT012H57Yf71-C9SJK3ZrYGyio
“Settled, Unsettled.” A Story in 100 Words. 7 March 2022. http://entropy2.com/blogs/100words/2022/03/07/settled-unsettled/?fbclid=IwAR21bbVir17ELvYW4pWiWw94WgHd4TiLYgJfFhojM8h67DHDNYvCjnE-EwY
“Crossing the Threshold.” A Story in 100 Words. 6 December 2021. http://entropy2.com/blogs/100words/2021/12/06/crossing-the-threshold/?fbclid=IwAR0nDkXkBdX4Ap_JTUsMoAce3Z9cDJ7ZOKN-UVShWvgApym8h3otku2nxAo
“Mary’s Waking Dream.” Dallas Reunion Online, October 2021. https://ah.utdallas.edu/reunion/reunion-online/?fbclid=IwAR2Pci_m6o-876i7R32ASoLZQyjeAxW15BKMrO1HZAusEwV1_WacQxzF_nU
“Keeping Promises.” Fox Paw Literary Blog, September 2021. https://foxpawliterary.com/shortlisted-pieces. Shortlisted for the Fox Paw literary award for fiction.
“Dr. Watson and the Werewolf.” Full Moon and Howlin’: A Werewolf Anthology, ed. Stephanie J. Bardy (Zombieworks Press, 2020), 101-142.
“Truth and Toe Shoes.” HeartWood Literary Magazine, 2020. http://www.heartwoodlitmag.com/truth-and-toe-shoes
“A Midwinter’s Meal.” The World of Myth. September 2019. http://jayzohub.com/darkmythproductions/theworldofmyth/76/fantasy/a_midwinters_meal/a_midwinters_meal.html
“Writer’s Log.” The Writer’s Studio Journal, Spring 2007. 10-11.
“Living Whiff a Writer.” The Writer’s Studio Journal (1:3) Summer 2006.
Creative Nonfiction and Craft Essays
“Dark and Twisty with a Side of Optimism.” Miracle Monocle 20 (2023). https://louisville.edu/miraclemonocle/issue-20/melissa-ridley-elmes
“Yard Sale.” Sheepshead Review 45.1: 113–114. https://tinyurl.com/mryw9wjx
“May 22, 2012.” Past Ten (May 2022). https://www.past-ten.com/single-post/melissa-ridley-elmes?fbclid=IwAR2HLNlPUKmakM5xJhOpo3fXShQSNAyAfMDncPGFUSPfCDRZfLKNKfci7XI
“The Art (and Heart) of Arthurian Things: A Craft Essay.” The Year’s Work in Medievalism 34 (2019; published 2021): 77-89.
“The Bigger Picture.” Ink Quarterly. 3:3: 5-17.
“Overaian Whosit Whatsits and Primetime TV.” The Blotter: 6-7.
“Finding the Rhythm.” The Writer’s Studio Journal 1.1: 8-11.
Melissa Ridley Elmes 