Coming in 2019!

my poetry is forthcoming in the Watershed Review, the literary magazine of California State University.

And my story, “Puncher, America and the Fake-Ass Jordans” will be published in a forthcoming issue of Glassworks, the literary magazine of my alma mater Rowan University,

Come Hear Me Read with Murphy Writing of Stockton University

7:00-8:30 p.m.: Join us for a reading featuring the contributors of More Challenges for the Delusional, an anthology of Peter’s quirky writing prompts and the writing they inspired. The reading will conclude with a writing prompt to take away. Stockton University’s Art Gallery (room L-101b), 101 Vera King Farris Drive, Galloway, NJ. Free. 

Join My Poetry Workshop, Saturday, October 13th, Otto Bruyns Public Library of Northfield, 11am

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The Stockton Center on Successful Aging (SCOSA) partnered with the Otto Bruyns Public Library of Northfield sponsor the ongoing senior poetry workshop series titled “A Tour of Poetry for Seniors.” Workshops are held one Saturday each month from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and include a lecture on poetry and reading from a visiting poet. A light luncheon is offered, compliments of the Library and local food service businesses. At the end of the year, an anthology of the group’s poetry is published.
I will be the visiting poet this October. My workshop: Final Line Without Flat Line: Revising Without “Killing”
Famous poet and novelist Kim Addonizio speaks of revision in these terms:
“A patient lies on a steel table, while everyone—practiced surgeons and amateurs—sharpens their instruments. Let’s suppose your poem is on the table. How do you keep from killing it?”
Writing is rewriting, and no poem has ever entered this world perfectly formed. Still, one of the finest points of revision is developing and executing a plan  that improves and accentuates without destroying passion or diluting meaning. During the workshop, we’ll examine strategies for revision. We’ll write based on a prompt, then share and discuss each other’s work.
Joe Costal’s writing has appeared in dozens of magazines and journals, most recently published by Barrelhouse, Diode Editions, & Philadelphia Stories. An excerpt from his unpublished novel is forthcoming in Painted Bride. Joe teaches writing at Stockton University. He recently presented a workshop on voice at Grub Street’s The Muse & Marketplace, North America’s largest literary conference.
The library is located at 241 West Mill Rd., Northfield, NJ 08225.