Prose. Poetry. Selected by Dennis Phillips for the 2001 Gertrude Stein Poetry Award, LETTERS TO UNFINISHED J. is comproised of 66 "letters," composed from 1994-1996, in which poet Shelia Murphy further establishes herself as a major author of the prose poem. Her text is equally at home in depths and surfaces that conjoin as she excavates and questions at multiple levels. Unexpected images, perceptions, and word combinations emerge, resulting often in political and societal critiques. Each of the letters is tightly composed, hightly concentrated, and fraught with motion.

Sheila E. Murphy (b. 1951, Mishawaka, Indiana) is an American text and visual poet who has been writing and publishing actively since 1978. She currently lives in Phoenix, Arizona. She earned: B.A. degree (music/English) from Nazareth College, Kalamazoo, Michigan M.A. degree (English Language and Literature) from The University of Michigan Ph. D. degree (Educational Administration and Supervision, Emphasizing Community Education) from Arizona State University. With Beverly Carver, Murphy co-founded and coordinated the Scottsdale Center for the Arts Poetry Series for twelve years. Murphy has engaged in a broad range of poetic styles over nearly three decades of writing and publication.