Miguel Murphy holds a BA and an MFA from Arizona State University. His poems have appeared in Clackamas Literary Review, Hayden's Ferry Review, and Washington Square and have been awarded both a Swarthout Award and an Academy of American Poets prize. His first collection, A Book Called Rats, won the 2002 Blue Lynx Prize from Washington State University's Lynx House Press and will be published in August 2003. He lives in Venice Beach, California.