Wednesday, April 28, 2004

English Lecturer Erin Murphy Wins National Poetry Award, Releasing New Book In June

Chestertown, MD, April 27, 2004 — Erin Murphy, a lecturer in English at Washington College, has been named first-place winner of the National Writers Union Poetry Award. Her poem “ZipCodeMan” was selected by acclaimed poet Donald Hall to receive this annual award. The award includes a $500 cash prize and publication in Poetry Flash, the National Writers Union's poetry journal.

A 1990 graduate of Washington College, Murphy also will release “ZipCodeMan” and other poems in her forthcoming collection of poetry, Science of Desire, to be published by Word Press in June. This is the first full-length collection for Murphy, who teaches creative writing and literature courses in the College's English Department. Her poetry has appeared in or is forthcoming in such journals as The Georgia Review, Field, Kalliope, The Paterson Literary Review, Nimrod International Journal, and Literal Latte. She resides with her family in Chesapeake City, MD.

“The poems in Science of Desire focus on the ways in which memory informs experience, and vice versa,” said Murphy. “If my poems were Venn diagrams, the gray part in the center would be the overlap of language, experience and memory. I find that it's impossible to think of these things separately.”

A reading and book signing for Science of Desire will be held Friday, June 18, 2004, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Elkton Arts Center, 135 E. Main Street in Elkton, MD. The event will be in conjunction with a display of poetry and painting titled “Life, Still: Prints & Paintings by Belle Hollon and Poems by Erin Murphy.” The event is free and open to the public.

To order Murphy's forthcoming book, available as of June 2004, visit Word Press online:http://www.word-press.com. Fall reading and book signing at Washington College to be announced.

No comments:

Post a Comment