ALTOONA, Pa. — Erin Murphy, professor of English at Penn State Altoona and the 2026-27 Penn State Laureate, read her poetry this month at the 2026 International Literature Festival in Dublin, Ireland.
Murphy’s reading was part of the launch event for the latest issue of Poetry Ireland Review, the Irish poetry journal of record. Her poem “If My Gender Were a Room” appears in issue 148, which was guest edited by esteemed Northern Irish poet Sinéad Morrissey, winner of the T.S. Eliot Prize and the Forward Prize. Morrissey said she admired the restraint of Murphy’s poem, praising her “confidence to leave so much unsaid.”
Other readers included contributors Róisín Leggett Bohan, Breda Spaight, Colm Breathnach, Adam Rooke, Judy O'Kane, Rachael Hegarty, Talia Pinzari, Jim McElroy, Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh, and Sofia Bitelli.
Founded in 1998, the annual International Literature Festival Dublin features dozens of readings, discussions, screenings, and other events by Irish and international writers.
Murphy is the author or editor of 16 books, most recently “Swoon: New & Selected Poems.” During her year as Penn State Laureate, she will visit campuses throughout the university to present and promote poetry, and to bring greater visibility to the arts, humanities and broader University mission.