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Seph Murtagh

@sephmurtagh.bsky.social

1.1K followers 580 following 250 posts

Writer. Fiction and essays in 3:AM Magazine, Minor Literature[s], & Socrates on the Beach.

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Seph Murtagh @sephmurtagh.bsky.social · Apr 15

For @thedodgemag.bsky.social I wrote a meditative short story about deer hunting (or about the pleasures of simply waiting in the woods, as the case may be). Big thanks to @addisonzeller.bsky.social for giving this piece a home. www.thedodgemag.com/sephmurtagh1

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Seph Murtagh @sephmurtagh.bsky.social · Aug 21

Renata Adler, bringing the goods in PITCH DARK. Extraordinary passage, extraordinary novel.

Reposted by Seph Murtagh

Hyo Yoon Kang 강효윤 @hyoyoonkang.bsky.social · Aug 21

Nothing thicker than a knife’s blade separates melancholy from happiness.
-- Woolf, Orlando

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Reposted by Seph Murtagh

Post45 Data Collective @post45data.bsky.social · Aug 15

"Representing the canon that scholars of Asian American literature have built, it is the most expansive dataset to date on Asian American literature."

Data and essay: doi.org/10.18737/092...

The Canon of Asian American Literature – Post45 Data Collective

This dataset traces the Asian American literary canon through nearly 1,900 scholarly citations from 1971 to 2023, capturing which authors and texts have shaped the field over time.

doi.org

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Reposted by Seph Murtagh

Amber Sparks @ambersparks.bsky.social · Aug 15

The thing people who are terrified don’t understand about cities is that all you need to know is what is your business and what is not your business

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Seph Murtagh @sephmurtagh.bsky.social · Aug 15

Ah, the sour smell of fallen, trampled fruit fermenting on city sidewalks. It's one of my favorite smells of the year. Fills me with a great inner peace. We are nearing the end of the torrid heat.

Seph Murtagh @sephmurtagh.bsky.social · Aug 12

Yeah incredible right?!

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Seph Murtagh @sephmurtagh.bsky.social · Aug 12

I had to google “sun butter” lol

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Seph Murtagh @sephmurtagh.bsky.social · Aug 12

Sitting in my office, starving, receiving updates from daycare that my daughter is being fed "sun butter and jelly sandwich, green beans and fruit cocktail"

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Seph Murtagh @sephmurtagh.bsky.social · Aug 6

Thank you!

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Martin Shaw @thebooksdesk.bsky.social · Aug 6

Great new review of Jen Craig's Wall up over @greggerkesocrates.bsky.social's Socrates: "Her novels are at once obsessive attempts to give a full account of grief-laden lives, & a demonstration of the impossibility, the ridiculousness, even, of such a pursuit" socratesonthebeach.com/gus-oconnor-...

Gus O'Connor on Jen Craig — Socrates on the Beach

socratesonthebeach.com

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Seph Murtagh @sephmurtagh.bsky.social · Aug 6

Our home bar from those days (which is sadly gone now that we’ve entered our sober toddler parenting era. I’m an IPA guy now 😢)

Seph Murtagh @sephmurtagh.bsky.social · Aug 6

Found the hand-drawn cocktail book that my wife and I made during our drunken shut-in covid days.

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Addison Zeller @addisonzeller.bsky.social · Aug 5

Got a lil bagatelle at beloved @hexliterary.bsky.social

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Matt Bell @mdbell79.bsky.social · Aug 3

Sunday morning writing mantra, via DeLillo, from inside my cocoon of dimmed lights, closed doors, and noise-cancelling headphones: "A writer takes earnest measures to secure his solitude and then finds endless ways to squander it."

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Reposted by Seph Murtagh

Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · Aug 4

say it again:

4 million people work in higher ed, the largest employer in 10 states, second largest employer in 10 more, and in 60 of the 100 biggest cities

demolishing higher education is economic sabotage

Anise K. Strong @anisekstrong.bsky.social · Aug 4

It's important to note here that we're not just talking about faculty & university staff. 100s of U.S. colleges are in towns or small cities where they form the major industry & lifeblood of the community. Loss of students -> loss of rent $, restaurant $, bars, bookstores, gaming stores...

Steve Herman @w7voa.journa.host.ap.brid.gy · Aug 3

The US could see a 30-40% decline in new international student enrollment, resulting in nearly $7 billion in lost revenue and more than 60,000 fewer American jobs. https://www.nafsa.org/fall-2025-international-student-enrollment-outlook-and-economic-impact

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Matt Seybold @mattseybold.bsky.social · Jul 29

I believe these are the first four academic books to cite an episode of American Vandal, which, like, there will be prizes.

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Seph Murtagh @sephmurtagh.bsky.social · Jul 26

Wrote 1000 words on Gabriel Blackwell's DOOM TOWN, a strange and deeply affecting novel that I won't soon forget.

On Gabriel Blackwell's Doom Town

I’m generally not a superstitious person, but there have been times in my life when catastrophes have piled up with such alarming speed and synchronicity, that I've been inclined to believe that the u...

substack.com

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Reposted by Seph Murtagh

The Dodge @thedodgemag.bsky.social · Jul 16

We're excited to start off our featured author posts with Elvis Bego's work "A Part"! Check out the rest of his work on our website (link in bio) in our Summer 2025 Issue out now!

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Christopher Burlinson @cmburlinson.bsky.social · Jul 8

I've been reading Trieste by Dasa Drndic for the last few days and it has absolutely wiped me out. Reading it next to Celan, Pound, etc., and my head is spinning. What a work of fiction - as well as a historical and documentary indictment of the world that reads it.

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Seph Murtagh @sephmurtagh.bsky.social · Jul 8

Such an exceptional novel. Read it a few years ago and it blew my mind. Don't think I've ever read a work of fiction that so urgently challenges the willing suspension of disbelief. Nothing quite like it.

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Chris de C B @panthropology.bsky.social · Jun 16

Happy Bloomsday to all who celebrate

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Adam Shaw @adamshaw502.bsky.social · Jun 13

New work in @havehashad.com today! Another cheesy little dad piece that might be the cheesiest little dad piece I’ve written yet (while also maybe the one I had the most fun with?)

HAD @havehashad.com · Jun 13

our first "square" is a banger from Adam Shaw!

"And I do this again and again, again and again until I finish my last pass and a raindrop hits my hand and a few more hit the grass and I smell how sweet it is, really, the work and monotony of it all..."
https://www.havehashad.com/kk41b

A screenshot of a Twitter post featuring a colorful graphic with the text "Stay Connected" in bold letters, surrounded by various icons representing social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

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Seph Murtagh @sephmurtagh.bsky.social · Jun 13

“She has an allergy to mosquitos"
Me: “Yes, but what is it CALLED"

Seph Murtagh @sephmurtagh.bsky.social · Jun 13

My 17 month old daughter has developed an allergy to mosquitos and I'm frankly annoyed that no one, from my wife to our pediatrician to her daycare providers, seems to want to use the official name for it.

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Seph Murtagh @sephmurtagh.bsky.social · May 31