Acclaimed poet Joan Murray visited Marist College for a Pushcart Prize reading, engaging students and faculty with her poetry and sharing insights into her creative process. The event took place in the Dyson Center and included a guest lecture as well as a reception in Fontaine Hall.
Murray is recognized for her literary achievements, including two Pushcart Prizes and two National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Fellowships. Her visit was part of Marist’s three-year sponsorship of the Pushcart Prize, which began in November 2024. This initiative aims to bring notable authors to campus and foster an active academic and creative environment.
During her reading, Murray presented ten poems from across her career. Among them were “Her Head,” inspired by an image of an African woman carrying water during a drought, and “What Makes Us Happy,” which reflects on observations of neighbors and their dogs.
Dr. Joshua Kotzin, Associate Professor of English and Jewish Studies Coordinator who organized the visit, said: “The poems Joan Murray read were wonderfully rich, profound, and evocative while also being clear and manageable for a general audience hearing them for the first time. She did a wonderful job making the most of the reading as a live, in-person event, where students had the opportunity to see and hear a major writer up close.”
Students responded positively to Murray’s visit. Una Soliday ’27 noted parallels between herself and Murray: both began as visual art students before moving into English studies. “Looking at Murray at the front of the class was like looking at myself,” Soliday said. “The way she moved about the space, pressing to her tiptoes to emphasize certain points, using her arms and hands to dance to the sounds of her words.”
Murray gave a guest lecture in Professor Jeffrey Canino’s Visual Storytelling and Graphic Narratives workshop. Canino commented: “I was struck by the warm and insightful responses Murray offered to my students’ questions about inspiration and process. As a creative writer working in multiple genres, she mirrored their own varied ambitions and had a wealth of experience to share.”
Students highlighted aspects such as vivid imagery in Murray’s poetry as well as its musicality. Ashley Laub ’27 remarked: “Reading her work reminded me why I enjoy poetry. Her storytelling voice and imagery just flow through her language, which makes her poetry extremely accessible and emotional.” Angelina Ruiz ’27 added: ”In Joan Murray’s work, she found a way to perfectly combine personal experiences and her imagination in a way that stuck with me.“
Murray has authored several books including Swimming for the Ark: New & Selected Poems 1990-2015; Looking for the Parade; Queen of the Mist; and The Same Water. Her poems have appeared in publications such as The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Harper’s Magazine, The Paris Review, and Poetry.
During a Q&A session after her reading, Murray discussed how she shifted from visual art to literature during college: “I was that kid who was creative,” she said. “I was going to be the visual artist.” She continued: “I just fell in love with this stuff. And all those dead old guy writers, I just loved them. I wanted to spend my life with them.”
When asked about starting new poems, Murray explained: “Murray said she has to have just one line, one musical line: she must hear the melody first, and the rest of the poem will sing itself alive,” according to Soliday.
Ashley Laub emphasized how important it is for students pursuing artistic careers to hear from established poets like Murray: “Getting a perspective like Joan’s is crucial because it is very rare that you hear of someone pursuing a career in poetry…Being able to hear about it from a serious perspective encourages me…”
Dr. Kotzin stated: “It’s a unique type of experience—hearing a writer read their work in person—and I think students benefit immeasurably having it as part of their Marist education.”
Marist College’s sponsorship will continue bringing prominent authors like Joan Murray onto campus over three years through its collaboration with Pushcart Prize organizers.
At one point during her visit addressing students directly about finding their own voices through writing or art careers regardless of background or doubts they may have felt before attending events such as hers on campus–she concluded: “I would like you to say to yourself ‘This is a big tent; I can find my way into it.’ I just would love it to move people—to connect with their own lives—to feel welcome…like I’m part of you—you’re part of me—this is something we do together.”
