Diffused Eroticisms: Love, Friendship, and Bisexuality in the Writings of Iris Murdoch

Miles Leeson, Mark Hopwood (Sewanee, The University of the South)

While she is pre-eminent as one of the twentieth century’s great novelists and philosophers, Iris Murdoch’s life as a poet has languished in the shadows. Yet throughout her life she wrote, revised and re-wrote a sizeable collection of poems; publishing some but keeping many private and—ultimately—shut in a chest in her attic.

Their recent discovery marks a significant literary event. Ranging over nearly six decades, these searing, confessional poems balance craft with playfulness; psychological insight with Murdoch’s own personal feelings. As an autobiographical account, they are unlike anything else. They shine a new light on Iris Murdoch’s turbulent relationships with men and women, her decades-long marriage and extraordinary life.

At this event, Miles Leeson—co-editor of the recently released Poems from an Attic (2026), a carefully edited collection of Murdoch’s posthumously discovered poems—will discuss Murdoch’s exploration of the boundaries of poetry, philosophy, relationships, and sexuality with Mark Hopwood, UMBC faculty member and author of the book Iris Murdoch’s Moral Philosophy (2025). The event will include time for audience discussion and is free and open to all.