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Rich Murphy, an award-winning poet and essayist, is a master writing teacher with decades of experience working with individuals and groups, as well as tutoring and teaching at the university level. Rich offers individual and group coaching and tutoring in person at two locations—Marblehead, MA or online. He also coaches one-on-one via email and Zoom. Rich works with writers aged 15 and up.

Rich’s books of poetry have won national awards, and his essays on poetics and the humanities have been published broadly in international, peer-reviewed journals. He has three decades of experience as a college-level teacher and writing coach, helping writers of poetry and of the academic essay.

Whether facilitating a poetry workshop or tutoring a prose writer, Rich’s goal is to empower writers so they can achieve their personal best. Always honoring the critical thinker and creative writer within each participant, Rich’s pedagogy is underpinned by the ideas of Paulo Freire, Peter Elbow, Henry Giroux, and Anne Berthoff. For him, problem-posing and welcoming newer writers into the conversation are key to the process. He is an associate of the Institute of Writing and Thinking at Bard College. A recent departmental assessment at MassArt states of my pedagogy, “You are one of the precious few teachers that I have met who understands this challenge and is capable of meeting it.” 

Rich has coached, tutored and facilitated workshops with poets and writers from Iraq to Los Angeles, from NYC to South Korea and India, Portsmouth, NH to New Haven, CT. Once a writer has established a relationship with Rich, s/he can depend on a reliable colleague and friend after the official working relationship, throughout his/her career.

Writers looking for assistance with writing their own poetry or organizing a book of poems will appreciate his ability to read a broad range of styles while providing supportive advice and commentary. Writers interested in writing clear academic prose, or looking for an editor or “sounding board,” will also find a working relationship with him rewarding.

Click on tabs for poetry or prose to learn more about his background and approach in these areas.