On Poetry & Myth
Sean Murphy(Author’s note: Huge appreciation to Holly Smith and the team at WIRB, where I last appeared to discuss This Kind of Man, for providing this forum to explore American myth via red, white, and blues.) In…
Introducing ‘red, white, and blues’
red, white, and blues is the fourth installment of a large, ongoing project acclaimed artist Matthew Shipp describes as “a kaleidoscopic, deep, and opulent journey.” Once more, I’m exploring America and its mythology through a…
Reflections on Fiction vs. Memoir
Ten years ago this month, my novel Not To Mention a Nice Life published (and became an Amazon best-seller—yay). Lots of things were different: I was still in the corporate world (in the…
Happy Birthday to My Book
As everyone’s favorite cop John McClane said, “Welcome to the party, pal.” If you missed some of this nonsense a year ago, enjoy this series of throwbacks; if you’ve been with me…
2/26/12: A Poem for Trayvon Martin
On this day in History: On February 26, 2012, Trayvon Martin, an African American teen walking home from a trip to a convenience store, is fatally shot by George Zimmerman, a…
Talking Trauma, Toxicity, & ‘This Kind of Man’
A Q&A with LA Wire This collection of stories has a well of insight and depth into the deep-seated trauma of many of the men living in the United States…
The Problem with the Homeless Problem
i. A question. Who was he? I think the same question each time I see him (once a week, sometimes more often): the same man in the same spot, holding the same…
Countervailing Forces
Since there are no coincidences (but maybe Fate, Irony, & Karma high-five at times) this poem, written a while back (during—without putting too fine a point on it—a time when…
Q&A: How Sean Murphy Sees Story
It was my extreme pleasure to chat with Sarah Trembath for Some Things Considered (Season 1, Episode 5), as she and I have been in conversation on a number of…
Annual Labor Day Rant: Unpaid Internships are Evil
i. First off, with very few exceptions, unpaid internships are immoral and disgusting. Any business, especially a multi-million-dollar tech behemoth, that justifies not paying interns is evil. But because the “good guys”…