About MeL

Originally from Red Deer, Alta. Mel Woods is an award-winning non-binary journalist, writer and digital producer based in Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

Currently a staff writer at Xtra Magazine, Mel most recently worked as a viral/trending editor for HuffPost Canada prior to its closure in March 2021. They also have bylines in the Walrus, the CBC, the Globe and Mail, Slate, This Magazine, Vice, The Georgia Straight and Xtra and has produced radio content for CBC Radio 1, CJSW 90.9 FM and CiTR 101.9 FM.

Mel’s past work has included everything from in-depth reported features on Alberta separatism to personal essays and cultural criticism on feminist and LGBTQ themes. Mel also covered the 2019 federal election for HuffPost Canada from the west coast, winning gold at the 2021 Canadian Online Publishing Awards for news coverage. They also won gold at the 2021 Canadian Radio, Television and Digital News Awards for their writing on gender and transphobia.

Mel has a Master of Journalism from the University of British Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and won the Hal Straight Gold Medal for “most outstanding” student in the class of 2019. They wrote their Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada-funded thesis on freedom of speech and student newspapers in Canada and also served as President of the School of Journalism Students’ Association. They also travelled to China in 2018 to report an investigative project on the global fishmeal industry. That project won the 2020 Digital Publishing Award for Best Digital Editorial Package and was nominated for a CAJ award.

Mel has previously hosted weekly radio programs on CiTR 101.9 FM, and CJSW 90.9 FM in Calgary. They also were the weekend host of the “HuffPost Canada Splash” daily audio briefing.

While Editor-in-Chief of the Gauntlet, the University of Calgary’s student newspaper, Mel was named Canadian University Press's "Student Editor of the Year" for 2016. They were also named as an honourable mention in the category of "Best in Student Programming" at the 2018 National Campus and Community Radio Awards for the piece "Coming Out Monologues", produced for CJSW 90.9 FM.

Mel has a First Class Honours Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in Communications Studies from the University of Calgary, where they were a Chancellor’s Club Scholar.

When not doing journalism, they enjoy hazy IPAs, playing Magic the Gathering, looking at sunsets, thinking about the prairies and dipping every food imaginable in ranch dressing.