Melissa Croghan

Melissa Croghan is a historian, artist, novelist and poet. Her upcoming book is titled, GREAT WOMEN OF MACKINAC, 1800-1950. Since birth, she has spent her summers on Mackinac Island, Michigan, where her family has lived since the 1880s. Over time, she became aware of many overlooked women who were at the helm of safeguarding the culture, healthcare, and areas of education on the island. Croghan’s personal history informs her study of the colorful and sometimes controversial women in the linked biographies in GREAT WOMEN.

The book came about in an unusual way. It was when Melissa was recuperating from a dangerous fall from a horse on a jumping trail, a trail named after her great-grandmother, that her ambition to write about the remarkable women in this Great Lakes region took root. That great-grandmother believed in lending a helping hand to others, just as Croghan did in the five year period that she taught poetry and art to the Syrian refugees in Jordan. She has read one of her published refugee poems when interviewed on NPR, and she has published two books. In Melissa’s novel, THE TRACKING HEART, her main character, Callie Major falls in love with a hunter, a man who becomes obsessed with the very bear -- a larger than life, beautiful animal -- that Callie is protecting. THE TRACKING HEART received a top notch review from Kirkus and NYT bestselling authors. Melissa's book, CLIFF WALK: MACKINAC POEMS & PAINTINGS is an enticing, illustrated read that has garnered plaudits from esteemed poets. Melissa gained valuable training in research and literary biography at The University of Pennsylvania, where she received her M.A. and Ph.D., and where she taught American Literature for six years. Her art and poetry are in numerous publications, and she has received awards in both areas. Her creative background lends character and life to her scholarly work.