Melissa Alter Smith is the creator of the #TeachLivingPoets hashtag and teachlivingpoets.com. She is a National Board Certified high school English teacher in Charlotte, NC. Melissa is co-author of Teach Living Poets (NCTE, 2021) and the Norton Guide to AP Literature: Writing & Skills (W.W. Norton, 2022). She is 2026 National English Honor Society John L. Manear Outstanding Advisor, 2017 District Teacher of the Year, an AP Reader, and a College Board AP Consultant. Melissa is also a co-author of the Instructor’s Manual and AP Correlation Guide for the 13th high school edition of The Norton Introduction to Literature, was a member of an advisory board to the Library of Congress’ Poet Laureate Project educational toolkit, and the conversation host for W.W. Norton’s Poets on Poetry series. She is featured on LitHub.com, in The New York Times, MindShift KQED, NCTE’s Council Chronicle, ASCD’s Education Update, and more. Melissa earned her M.A. in English from Ohio University. Her work is focused on complicating the canon, supporting teachers, and empowering students through poetry.