Poets Lockward and Murphy to read at college on Nov. 4

Newton - Poets Diane Lockward and Peter Murphy will read from their works from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday. Nov. 4, as part of the Idiom Reading Series, sponsored by the Betty June Silconas Poetry Center at SCCC. The center is located in the library at SCCC; admission is free and open to the public. Lockward is the author of Against Perfection, a chapbook published by Poets Forum Press in 1998, and Eve’s Red Dress, a full-length collection of poems, from Wind Publications in 2003. Her poems have been published in Spoon River Poetry Review, Literary Review, Poet Lore, Cumberland Poetry Review, and Beloit Poetry Journal. Her work has been nominated twice for a Pushcart Prize and has received awards from North American Review, Louisiana Literature, the Newburyport Art Association, and the Akron Art Museum. Her poems have been featured on “Poetry Daily” and twice read by Garrison Keillor on NPR’s “The Writer’s Almanac.” In 2001, Lockward was one of 10 featured poets at the Warren County Poetry Festival. A former high school English teacher, Lockward served as an educational consultant to the PBS video series, “Poetry Heaven,” and has been the recipient of three artist-educator scholarships to the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Mass. In 2003 she was awarded a Poetry Fellowship from the N.J. State Council on the Arts. She currently works as a poet-in-the-schools for both the council on the arts and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. The mother of three grown children, Lockward lives in West Caldwell with her husband, Lew. Murphy was born in Wales and grew up in NYC, where his employment included operating heavy equipment, managing a night club, and driving a cab. His poems have appeared in numerous journals including Anglo-Welsh Review, Atlanta Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, Commonweal, New York Quarterly, New York Times, Witness, and Yellow Silk. His new book, The Stubborn Child, was published this year by James Street Press. His essays and reviews have been published in American Book Review, Digest, Shakespeare Quarterly, and elsewhere. He is a consultant to the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation’s poetry program and has been an educational advisor to five PBS television series on poetry including “Fooling with Words” with Bill Moyers. Murphy has received awards and fellowships for writing and teaching from the N.J. State Council on the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars, among others. He lives with his wife and daughter, near Atlantic City, where he teaches English and creative writing at the local high school. He is the founder/director of the “Winter Poetry & Prose Getaway,” held annually in Cape May. For information on the evening of poetry, call 973-300-2194.