Melora Koepke
5970 rue Waverly, Montreal, Quebec, H2T 2Y3
514-972-1072 (mobile)
melora@sympatico.ca / www.melora.ca
Birthdate: 28 December 1974
Citizenship: Canadian
Languages spoken and written: English and French
Education
Master of Arts
Media Studies
Concordia University, Montreal (2007)
Bachelor of Arts: (Honours/with distinction)
Communications/English Literature
Concordia University, Montreal (1997)
Awards
2008 - Canada Council for the Arts
Grant for Professional Writers
2004--National Magazine Award
“Corpus Delicti: Media, Morality and Vancouver’s Missing Women”
(Maisonneuve Magazine)
2004--Banff Centre for the Arts -Creative Non-Fiction and Cultural Journalism
Fellowship
“The Other Mother” (Saturday Night Magazine)
Employment
1996-present
Independent Film + Culture journalist
I am an award-winning magazine and newspaper journalist. I regularly contribute
feature articles on social issues, food, film, music, art, science and travel to local,
national and international publications. Clients include: The Montreal Gazette,
The Globe and Mail, The Walrus, enRoute, Maclean's, Sid Lee, The Vancouver
Sun, The Toronto Star, The Montreal Mirror, The Georgia Straight, Maisonneuve,
National Geographic Traveler, Saturday Night, Moving Pictures Magazine, Hour
Magazine, VOIR Montreal, Matrix, the National Film Board of Canada, several
CBC programs (Definitely Not The Opera, Global Village, The Current), RadioCanada International and others.
2008-present
Instructor, Communications and Journalism Department, Concordia Centre
for Continuing Education
I teach writing courses for adults with varying abilities, backgrounds and goals in
Concordia's Centre for Continuing Education. Courses taught include Creative
Writing, Travel Writing, News and Feature Writing, and Writing for the Web.
My courses (all of which I have redesigned in process) are taught in seminar
format with an emphasis on student participation and peer feedback, and are
designed to work with the student's individual strengths, to create a learning
environment where goals can be met and progress felt. Classes are comprised of
students with divergent backgrounds and experience levels, from advanced ESL
students to published writers looking to perfect their technique. My teaching
effectiveness is demonstrated by my course evaluations, a sampling of which is
available upon request.
1999-2011
Film Editor, Hour Magazine
As the film and culture/food editor of Montreal’s alternative weekly newspaper, I
produced thousands of feature interviews and film reviews for the paper on a
weekly basis, as well as news, music, food and arts features and reviews. As
part of an editorial team, I made weekly decisions about upcoming coverage, and
was also responsible for hiring and overseeing a staff of writers for my section
and for other sections of the paper, and for editing their work.
Professional/personal skills and highlights
Well-developed people skills and ability to work with others; co-operative,
respectful, patient and flexible
Thrives on a steep learning curve
Bilingual in spoken and written English and French
Award-winning writing and editing skills in English
Responsible, organized, detail-oriented, good work ethic
Self-motivated: Many years of freelancer requires it!
Persistent and energetic, determined, creative problem solver
Extracurricular interests
Film, music, books, food, travel, popular culture, photography, ocean
conservation and diving, horses, science, swimming.
References, course evaluations, and/or clippings available upon request