ALTOONA, Pa. — Erin Murphy, professor of English at Penn State Altoona, has been nominated for four prestigious writing awards, including a Pushcart Prize, a Best of the Net award, and two fiction awards.
Murphy’s poem “McRant” has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize by Grayson Books. The poem appears in Murphy’s 10th book of poetry, “Human Resources,” which was published in June.
Her prose poem about palindromes, “Insomnia Chronicles XXIII,” has been nominated for a Best Microfiction 2026 award by Mark Danowsky and Louisa Schnaithmann, editors of ONE ART: a journal of poetry. This year’s Best Microfiction selections, edited by Meg Pokrass and Gary Fincke, will be judged by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Diane Seuss.
Another prose poem in the series, “Insomnia Chronicles VII,” has been nominated for a Best Small Fictions 2026 award by Lorette C. Luzajic, founding editor of the Mackinaw. Edited by Nathan Leslie, Best Small Fictions recognizes “the best internationally published short hybrid fiction in a given calendar year.”
Murphy’s poem “Insomnia Chronicles XXII” has been nominated for a Best of the Net award by Rachel Bunting and Donna Vorreyer, editors of the journal Asterales. Sponsored by Sundress Publications, the Best of the Net series recognizes exceptional digital publishing.
Winners of all four awards will be announced in 2026.