Sheila E. Murphy (born 1951[2] in Mishawaka, Indiana) is an American text and visual poet who has been writing and publishing since 1978.

She is the recipient of the Gertrude Stein Award for her book Letters to Unfinished J.

Murphy co-founded and coordinated the Scottsdale Center for the Arts Poetry Series for twelve years.

[citation needed] Since 1986, the prose poem has been the form of choice for Murphy, who coined the term for a new kind of prose poem, the "American Haibun",[3] which is quite separate from the traditional Japanese form.

Murphy considers Gertrude Stein as a writer who influenced her early on.