As the child of Kenyan immigrants born in Texas and raised in Maryland, Melanie was doomed to struggle with two things: enunciating and confidently answering “where are you from?” Searching for balance among competing cultural expectations, she, and her lopsided identity, found relief in stories. Eventually, creating her own tales became the key to making sense of the world. Melanie’s writing aims to make audiences feel compelled but a little uneasy, like being in a Walmart at 2am or hearing her pronounce “oil.” Utilizing a dark comedic tone, her character-driven stories focus on outcasts, black sheep and those who are the middle child at heart.