Sean Murphy is the founder of the non-profit 1455 Literary Arts and directs the Center for Story at Shenandoah University. His work has appeared on NPR’s All Things Considered and in USA Today, The New York Times, The Huffington Post, The Village Voice, Writer's Digest, Salon, and elsewhere. He is the author of four poetry collections—The Blackened Blues (2021), Rhapsodies in Blue (2023), Kinds of Blue (2024), and Red, White, and Blues (2026). The short fiction collection This Kind of Man published in 2024, and his memoir, Please Talk About Me When I'm Gone, won Memoir Magazine’s 2022 Memoir Prize. He has been nominated four times for the Pushcart Prize and twice for Best of the Net. Murphy also hosts the podcast and Substack Some Things Considered, where he interviews best-selling authors, acclaimed critics, and celebrated musicians. For more writing—including essays, interviews, poetry, and cultural commentary—visit seanmurphy.net or follow him on Twitter/X @bullmurph. Email: sean [at] 1455litarts.org
Website: https://www.seanmurphy.net/
by Sean Murphy i. Here’s the thing about clean-up hitters: they strike out a lot. Then again, consider some of baseball’s most prodigious home run champions: Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, and Babe Ruth, the top three, had career batting averages of .298, .305, and .342, respectively. In baseball terms, excellent, but that also means they…
by Sean Murphy i. Does it tell us much—about the times we live in, about ourselves—that the occasion of Milan Kundera’s passing, at age 94 three years ago this summer, was not met with an outpouring of approbation and appreciation? If nothing else, it was a reminder of the fickle nature of fashion, trends, and…
by Sean Murphy i. While there is much to admire and recommend in the excellent documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi, especially for young creatives or academics who want to better understand–and appreciate–mastery and what it involves and requires, there’s one sequence that has stayed with me. The apprentice chefs are on rice duty before they even…
by Sean Murphy i. I learned about death and taxes later but first; I understood that there was also the World Cup. It loomed almost as large as reality and, for large segments of the world, was as important as existence, was existence—at least every four years. Those of us in the states didn’t have…
by Sean Murphy John Williams’s Stoner is having a moment. Or, it’s always been having a moment, but right now, in 2026, only more so. With the recent awareness that it was the monthly pick for the (amazing, awesome) Anthony Jeselnik’s Book Club, it seemed time to dive in. You can usually tell you’re dealing…