Melissa Williams Murphy is a native Houstonian with a passion for children’s literacy and education. She founded the iWRITE Nonprofit Organization in 2009 and serves as Executive Director of The Bryan Museum (for Texas History Education). She has authored twelve books for children and young readers and has published dozens for other children’s authors. She started iWRITE after a year-long book tour, during which she heard elementary students ask the same question, “Can kids be authors too?” That question sparked the idea for the I Write Short Stories by Kids for Kids Annual Publishing Contest, now in its fourteenth year, which gives students the opportunity to become published authors and illustrators. Thousands of kids from all over the world have been published through the program and have walked the red carpet at iWRITE’s annual book signing gala.
Melissa has presented to hundreds of thousands of students in over 300 schools across Texas and California and she has been a guest speaker at education conferences for the last fifteen years. Her graduate work in psychology and counseling has shaped the framework of her programs, giving students a voice and providing educators with the tools to build student confidence through writing. Today, her organization also provides writing curriculum to schools in English and Spanish.
Melissa’s most memorable project was breaking a world record with her team at iWRITE and The Bryan Museum for the largest published book in the world, I Am Texas. One thousand students were published in the giant book, which stands seven feet tall, weighs 496 pounds, and contains 400 pages of stories, poetry, and artwork … all about Texas. The book project was featured in the 2024 Guinness Book of World Records.
Melissa has also served as president of Rotary Houston Skyline and has been recognized as a Houston Chronicle “It” Girl, Houston Sweetheart, and LCA Houston International Mother’s Day Honoree.
She and her husband, Matt, are the proud parents of two little boys, Jackson and Colton. They love spending time outdoors, playing with monster trucks, and, of course, reading bedtime stories together.