I sat down with Professor Melanie Chambers to learn about her career as a writer and teacher, her time at Western, and her personal life outside of work.
Professor Melanie Chambers’ relationship with writing bloomed in the sixth-grade, when the pages of a journal let her express herself amidst her parents’ divorce. “I like working through what something meant to me,” she explained, a sentiment that shows in her writing today.
Her post-secondary education began at Acadia University, but being from Nova Scotia, she yearned for a bigger, newer experience. In 1992, she transferred to Western University to obtain a degree in English Language and Literature. During this time, she often kept to herself and could be found either studying or working at the Spoke: “That was a big part of my Western experience—was having a place to go to. It’s like a communal coffee shop.”
After graduating from Western, Chambers obtained a Master of Journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University (previously named Ryerson University). From there, she went on to freelance, travel, and teach.
Chambers chanced upon a teaching opportunity when a friend of hers was moving back to England and asked if she’d like to take over their travel writing class, which was part of a Continuing Education program. When reflecting on her decision to take this opportunity, she said, “I [was] like, ‘Oh, I don’t know how to put a class together.’ But I did—and that was the beginning of my travel writing career, really.”
Soon after, she developed a complete half-year travel writing course and then a food writing course. “It’s really a testament to, if you have a passion to do something, that can turn into an occupation. And it really did,” Chambers remarked.
Chamber’s writing courses often surprise the students who take them. Not only is there the expectation to write, but also to cook, edit, and get involved in the nitty-gritty of the writing process.
In fact, she purposefully structures her classes to be as practical and—in her own words—“real-world” as possible. “The Writing Department is under the Arts and Humanities, but it’s its own little beast,” she explained. “I think it’s a really quite unique department because it looks at the world and says, ‘What are people writing that is outside of a textbook? What are people writing in the real world that might help them?’”
As a freelance writer herself, Chambers has contributed to The Globe and Mail, Chatelaine, the Toronto Star, Canadian Cycling Magazine, and more. She also has a blog called The Spoked Traveler and a new podcast, The Sexy Times.
Her brand has long been tied to her love for mountain biking and travelling. Recalling her beginning as a freelancer, Chambers said she had never been published in a magazine when she sent an idea to Chatelaine: a profile on three different mountain bikers with levels of expertise ranging from beginner to advanced.
When Chatelaine accepted her proposal, they explained that her enthusiasm made up for her lack of experience and from there, her freelance career flourished. Various tourism departments reached out to her for articles and she continued writing. “If you can show people that there’s something there, that there’s a void, you’ll find a way to write about it,” she said.
She prefers to work on pieces that she can connect with personally; when asked if she has any favourites, two came to her mind—both involving women and mountain biking. The first was a piece on sexist and racist mountain bike trail names, an article for which she enjoyed researching and speaking with other women who were sick of the misogyny.
“I was chest-thumping as I was writing this,” she said, “like, ‘Women are just as good as men are with mountain bikes!’”
Another piece that Chambers is fond of is the one she wrote about Celia Sánchez, a Cuban revolutionary who fought alongside Fidel Castro. For this article, she travelled to Cuba, where she hired a female bike guide and visited significant places in Celia Sánchez’s history—where she lived and where she fought.
“The thing that resonated with me with Celia was that she was the glue that kept the revolution together. She had the brains, but she was also the most stylish woman I’ve ever seen… that resonated because we don’t have to drop being feminine to be strong,” Chambers explained. “These stories I liked because here’s a woman that spoke to me.”
Recently, she launched a new website where she focuses on stories about women. This reflects a new direction she’s excited to be taking.
“In a way, as I’m changing, I’m rebranding again,” Chambers commented after describing some recent projects which include meeting up with her high school bully and even detailing the significance of the outfit she wore to her mother’s funeral. She’s found that these stories receive a lot of positive feedback from readers who empathize and relate.
When asked what she’s working on right now, Chambers mentioned a memoir she’s writing about female sexuality and sex—not just in the context of intercourse but as power, identity, and agency.
In the process of writing this hybrid memoir, comprised of research and personal experience, Chambers recently earned a Master of Fine Arts from King’s College at Dalhousie University.
In this program, Chambers focused on writing her memoir with the support of the faculty and the other students. “You have to keep learning,” she asserted. “I’m a huge advocate for never stop thinking you can try.”
As for the writing process itself, she gets her best work done when she’s feeling well and always begins with a purpose and a plan. “I never go to the computer when I don’t know what I’m gonna say. That’s why I don’t believe in writer’s block. You go to the computer when you’re ready,” she explained.
Once she’s begun writing, she uses a technique by journalist and author, Elizabeth Gilbert, and sets a timer for about 40 minutes to an hour to get herself started. “It’s like working out, you know? The warm-up sucks. You’re just like ‘What am I doing? My muscles don’t wanna do this…’ and then, the more you do it, for me, I get into a flow,” she said.
When asked about advice she has for students who write, she suggested they join writing groups or clubs and said, “Writing is very isolating, and it’s important to have somebody to edit your work. You need support.” She advised meeting up with other writers and friends in order to gain valuable feedback.
“It sounds corny, but if you’re a writer, just don’t give up,” Chambers added. “Unless you’ve written about it, it hasn’t been done before.”
In her free time, Professor Melanie Chambers likes to mountain bike, cook, dance, and sing karaoke – her go-to songs are anything by Madonna. Additionally, she enjoys spending time with her partner, her cat, and her dog, Farley, who accompanies her on bike rides.