Jacqueline Murphy, MFA

I write about place and help shape writing when the setting needs to carry more of the story.

My background in art, architecture, horticulture, and landscape design informs how I see and work. I pay attention to how spaces look and function and how people move through them, then translate that into writing that’s clear, specific, and easy to follow.

Services

I collaborate with design firms, cultural institutions, nonprofits, publishers, and individual writers to develop prose that tells the story they want to tell.

My projects include books, magazine features, landscape and architectural narratives, interpretive materials, and web content. Sometimes I build a piece from the ground up; other times I step in to clarify, reshape, or complete what’s already there.

Writing and Editorial Approach

I focus on the relationship between design, intention, and experience, that is, what a place is meant to do, and how people actually interact with it.

I’ve worked with designers, horticulturists, and communications teams on projects ranging from plant profiles and garden features to long-form manuscripts and design narratives. My editorial background includes roles at Fine Gardening and Storey Publishing and writing for regional publication including Hudson Valley Magazine, the Pacifica Tribune, and Old Town Crier.

Workshops

I offer two kinds of writing workshops.

The first is focused on place—the landscapes, buildings, and environments that shape what happens on the page. In these guided sessions, writers work through practical exercises designed to sharpen observation, generate new material, and deepen their understanding of setting as an active force in their work.

I also offer one-on-one online workshops tailored to whatever you’re working on, whether that’s a draft in progress, a stalled project, questions of craft, or simply making space to write and think more clearly.

Both are working sessions: practical, generative, and shaped by close attention. Writers leave with new pages, sharper drafts, and a stronger sense of where the work wants to go.

Background

I’ve studied and practiced horticulture and landscape design in Massachusetts, California, New York, and Virginia, with experience in botanical gardens, historic landscapes, nurseries, and design studios. That work continues to inform how I write, edit, and teach.

I hold an MFA in Literature and Creative Nonfiction from Bennington College and a BA in Art and Architecture from Smith College, with additional training in technical communication and nonprofit writing.

I grew up on the North Shore of Long Island and now work remotely from Arlington, Virginia. I’m an Oxford comma fan.