Melissa Llanes Brownlee is a Native Hawaiian writer, currently living in Japan, where she teaches English at a junior high school. She received her Bachelor's Degree in Creative Writing and Linguistics from Boise State University and her Master's Degree in Fine Arts in Fiction from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her work has appeared in numerous literary journals and magazines, in print and online, including Baltimore Review, Booth: A Journal, The Notre Dame Review, Pleiades, The Citron Review, The SFWP Quarterly, Waxwing, Milk Candy Review, Claw & Blossom, (mac)ro(mic), 3Elements, Necessary Fiction and elsewhere. She was a finalist for the 2018 New American Fiction Prize and the 2019 Brighthorse Prize. She was nominated for Best Microfiction and selected for Best Small Fictions 2021.