A Writer Covering His World,
One Story at a Time
I’m Sean Murphy, and you might have heard me on NPR's "All Things Considered" or seen my name in The New York Times or The Huffington Post, among others. As a long-time columnist for PopMatters and a contributor to outlets ranging from Salon and The Good Men Project to The Village Voice and The Weeklings, my aim has always been to connect, provoke, and celebrate the stories that define us.
I founded 1455, a non-profit dedicated to celebrating creativity and community, and I direct the Story Center at Shenandoah University, but I’ve been telling—and savoring—words for as long as I can remember. Since I first began writing, I’ve been obsessed with the ways powerful narratives explain our world while creating new possibilities, how art broadens awareness and builds empathy.
Here you'll find writing that spans the breadth of my passions: you can read my short fiction and poetry, or various essays about the literary and technology industries. Here you'll find two decades worth of book and movie reviews, and you can check out some of the artists I've interviewed. If you're a music fan, I'm your guy -- jazz aficionados go here and prog rock lovers dive deep here. If you're a political junkie, I've got plenty of opinions, and if you're interested in the intersection of creativity and culture, these pieces might scratch that itch.
Check out my new story collection that challenges modern masculinity, This Kind of Man, as well as my recent poetry collection Kinds of Blue , and my extended meditation on grief Please Talk about Me When I'm Gone, which won the 2022 Memoir Prize. Finally, if you experienced the dot.com bust & boom, my novel Not to Mention a Nice Life should make you laugh and cry.
Welcome to the conversation. Welcome to my world.
