Memoir, 2020, Moonstone Press
Looking for Thelma Second Edition, 2020 Moonstone Press Winner of the Wilt Prize for Creative Nonfiction “The magic of Looking for Thelma is in the masterful, subtle use of the second person. Second person generally makes me want to hurl a book into the ocean, but if you give yourself over to it, then […]
Poetry, 2019, Moonstone Press
Mean Time 2019, Moonstone Press “‘Listen, I’m full of contradictions,’” the speaker in Peter Murphy’s new chapbook confides, but any reader of Murphy’s work already knows that his are poems full of strange truths, deep emotions, and abundant wonder. In Mean Time, the poet takes us on a journey from fantastic myths of self-invention that […]
Poetry, 2018, Unsolicited Press
The Man Who Never Was 2018, Unsolicited Press After Peter Murphy dies early in this sequence of poems, he is surprised to return as the man who never was. He struggles to make a living because, well, he’s dead. One Plus One Equals One The buddy system is essential to survival; it gives the enemy […]
Prompts, 2018, Diode Editions
More Challenges for the Delusional 2018, Diode Editions Peter Murphy’s Prompts and the Writing They Inspired, edited by Ona Gritz & Daniel Simpson. Contributors include Kim Addonizio, Stephen Dunn, Tony Hoagland, Dorianne Laux & more. Try this Sample Writing Prompt The Afterlife 3rd Annual Weekend Poetry Retreat in Sea Isle City April 25-27, 2008 * * […]
Poetry, 2017, Port Press
Atlantic City Lives 2017, Port Press A letterpress edition of poems by Peter E. Murphy with wood engravings by Michael McGarvey. This first edition of Atlantic City Lives is limited to one hundred copies, numbered and signed by Peter E. Murphy and Michael McGarvey. It was designed and printed at the Port Press with the assistance […]
Poetry, 2016, Five Oaks Press
The Last Pub on Earth 2016, Five Oaks Press The story of the afterlife and times of the unfortunate Garry Morgan, an alias the author adopted when living as an illegal alien in Wales. “That’s the dark, startling beauty of this collection: Garry Morgan never arrives anywhere he doesn’t expect to arrive. His course is certain. […]
Poetry, 2016, Diode Editions
I Thought I Was Going to be Okay 2016, Diode Editions “Peter Murphy is a maker of combinatory perceptions and the source of a voice that can sing more than a single note at a time—nothing encoded here, nothing esoteric, but poems that set new standards for clarity, a dark hilarity, and sting, all delivered […]
Poetry, 2014, Casa de Cinco Hermanas Press
Mr. Nobody 2014, Casa de Cinco Hermanas Press The first person speaker in Mr. Nobody is an exhausted traveler in the weeks…months…years…after 9/11 changed the world he thought he knew. from Mr. Nobody Stop it! Don’t kill yourself. The world is on fire you don’t know why, everyone frantic, pushing to the windows. No one […]
Prompts, 2012, Jane Street Press
Challenges for the Delusional 2012, Jane Street Press Peter Murphy’s Prompts and the Poems They Inspired, edited by Christine Malvasi. Contributors include Stephen Dunn, Kathleen Graber, Dorianne Laux, James Richardson & more. Try this Sample Writing Prompt Challenges for the Delusional ~ Out of Stock
Poetry, 2008, Jane Street Press
Thorough & Efficient 2008, Jane Street Press “In Thorough & Efficient, Peter E. Murphy gives us a real depiction of the malaise of so-called “inner city” education. Murphy, who taught for 29 years at Atlantic City High School, is relentlessly accurate and often funny as he renders one indelible moment after another. In doing so […]
Poetry, 2005, Jane Street Press
Stubborn Child 2005, Jane Street Press “Peter Murphy’s superb Stubborn Child unflinchingly enacts and examines his own painful childhood, then moves to the often damaged and compromised lives of the high school students he teaches. Like the best delineators of unhappiness, he also brings humor to his task, the dark humor of a survivor. And […]