Hi! I’m Mel!

Originally from Red Deer, Alberta, Mel Woods is an award-winning trans and non-binary journalist, writer and digital producer based in Vancouver, B.C., specializing in new and cultural analysis and commentary.

Currently the senior editor, audience engagement at Xtra Magazine, Mel previously worked as a viral/trending writer editor for HuffPost Canada prior to its closure in March 2021. Their written and multimedia work has also appeared in Canadian Geographic, The Walrus, The Tyee, The Narwhal, The Globe and Mail, Slate, and Vice.

Mel’s work has included everything from in-depth reported features on Alberta separatism to TikTok videos about Canadian federal politics to cultural analysis about LGBTQ2S+ representation in reality TV. They are a regular guest across podcasts, radio and TV.

Mel covered the 2019 federal election for HuffPost Canada 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 opinion writing. They were a finalist for the 2025 Emerging Excellence Award at the Digital Publish Awards.

Mel has a Master of Journalism from the University of British Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and won the Hal Straight Gold Medal in 2019 as the program’s most outstanding graduate. 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 in 2018-19. They travelled to China in 2018 to report an investigative project on the global fishmeal industry in collaboration with NBC News. That project won the 2020 Digital Publishing Award for Best Digital Editorial Package and was nominated for a Canadian Association of Journalists award.

Mel is a proud alumnus of campus media, having previously hosted weekly radio programs on CiTR 101.9 FM in Vancouver, and CJSW 90.9 FM in Calgary. They also served as Editor-in-Chief of The Gauntlet, the University of Calgary’s independent student newspaper, from 2016-2017.

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 working, they enjoy hazy IPAs, playing Magic: the Gathering, looking at sunsets, and hanging out with their partner Jasmine and two cats Tesla and Hobgoblin.