Our Team
Peter E. Murphy, Founder
Peter E. Murphy was born in Wales and grew up in New York City where he operated heavy equipment, managed a nightclub and drove a taxi. He is the author of eleven books and chapbooks of poetry and prose including two books of writing prompts. More than a dozen excerpts of his memoir-in-progress, Once Upon a Time You Lived in a Castle, have been published as standalone pieces in journals, including “Looking for Thelma,” winner of the 2018 Wilt Nonfiction Chapbook Prize and “Storming the Castle,” winner of the 2019 First Chapter Memoir Prize sponsored by Arch Street Press. The founder of Murphy Writing of Stockton University, Peter has received dozens of awards and fellowships and has led hundreds of workshops for writers and teachers. Read a poem by Peter and learn more on his website.
Emari DiGiorgio, Director
Emari DiGiorgio is the author of Girl Torpedo, winner of the Numinous Orison, Luminous Origin Literary Award, and The Things a Body Might Become. Her poetry has received numerous awards, including the Auburn Witness Poetry Prize, RHINO’s Founder’s Prize and a poetry fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. At Stockton, Emari teaches first-year writing and poetry, and she serves as President of the Stockton Federation of Teachers. She is also a Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation Poet and hosts World Above, a monthly reading series in Atlantic City, NJ.
Taylor Coyle, Program Coordinator
Taylor Coyle, born, raised and residing in South Jersey, is a strong advocate of the Oxford Comma. She won 1st place in both the 2014 Stephen Dunn Poetry Contest and the 2014 Jennifer Cakert Poetry Awards. Her work has been published by Moonstone Press, Rewrites and Stockpot. She has also collaborated with a graphic design artist for a visual writing project, The Carnival by the Sea. Originally Murphy Writing’s intern, Taylor started working part time for us in 2013 and was hired full time in 2016. She also worked in a barbeque restaurant for 10+ years and graduated with honors with a degree in Literature from Stockton University. In her spare time, she likes to catch up on sleep, write and pet as many animals as possible.
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Co-hosts
We are thrilled to announce that Dione Carroll, Travis Love and Mike Nees will assist Peter in hosting the 2024 Winter Getaway. You may recognize these delightful writers from previous Winter Getaways.
Dione Carroll, Co-host
Dione Carroll was a former student of Peter Murphy’s from Atlantic City High School, joining for English and Creative Writing. Ever fond of the written word and the soul’s search for meaning, she completed a course of study in Philosophy at Richard Stockton College (now University). Thereafter, she became a frequent Winter Getaway “re-PETER,” and even co-hosted several Story Slams in South Jersey alongside Mike Nees, Travis Love and the rest of the Sex Brigade. She now spends time marveling at the mountains and frontiers of Colorado and the southwest US.
Travis Love, Co-host
Travis Love is a poet and activist born and raised in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Most recently he was accepted as a fellow in the inaugural class of the Roots Wounds Words Writing Retreat. Mr. Love is a founding member of the Sex Brigade, which produces Story Slams and creates supportive spaces for creatives to share their work in and around Atlantic City. He is currently enrolled in the Rutgers School of Public Health Graduate Program where he plans to continue his work centering the stories of everyday people. He is honored to create opportunities for coalition building through storytelling. He has participated in many of Murphy Writing’s offerings and is most grateful for the community that welcomes him every Winter Getaway.
Mike Nees, Co-host
Mike Nees is an author of fiction, a case manager for people living with HIV and a proud emcee of Atlantic City’s Story Slam series. He lives, works and writes in Atlantic City. His work appears or is forthcoming in The Forge Literary Magazine, Baltimore Review, The Masters Review: New Voices, New South, Driftwood Press, Typehouse Literary Magazine, Cleaver Magazine, matchbook, Heavy Feather Review, and elsewhere. He thinks a lot about power structures, social deviance and our perceptions of reality.