Dara Laine Murray C’09 earned the 2026 John & Eileen Allman Prize for Poetry
December 2025 – Dara Laine Murray C’09 perfectly encapsulates Drew University’s longstanding mission emphasizing the “lifelong cultivation of the whole person.”
Murray came to Drew in 2005 having written poetry in her personal life, but pursued a non-arts degree, focusing instead on behavioral science.
Throughout her academic journey, Drew professors encouraged “honesty, curiosity, and commitment, and the idea that there isn’t just one ‘right’ path,” she said.
After Drew, Murray spent two years in AmeriCorps service with Public Allies, and later earned a master of public policy from Johns Hopkins. She then built a career in research and evaluation in the nonprofit sector, and currently serves as the Director of Learning and Evaluation at The Trust for Public Land where she leads studies on parks, schoolyards, and public spaces, and sits on the organization’s “Think and Do Tank”, helping put goals and ideas into practice.
“I didn’t expect to become a ‘math person’, but my foundation in behavioral and political sciences from Drew gave me the curiosity and qualitative grounding that continue to shape my work,” she said.
While her career continued, Murray did not limit herself to her professional side of life, staying true to Drew’s “whole person” credo.
In fact, she recently received the 2026 John & Eileen Allman Prize for Poetry from the Bellevue Literary Review.
The recognition honors Murray’s prose poem “Telling the Bees” which will be published in Bellevue Literary Review’s spring 2026 issue. The award honors outstanding writing on themes of health, grief, and the body.
For Murray, the prize is a particularly personal one.
“Telling the Bees is one of the first poems I wrote after my father died suddenly in March 2025,” said Murray. “At the time, I felt like my brain was rewiring and it was difficult to describe in words what the loss felt like. Writing became something I had to do. It is the main way I processed and was able to communicate the abstract nature of loss, grief, and the feelings and thoughts I’ve had.”
Murray’s “rewiring” has made space for her poetry, something she had not shared publicly since before her time at Drew.
“To have this piece selected and recognized feels both thrilling and surreal,” said Murray. “It’s my first literary honor, and it affirmed something I didn’t always allow myself to believe—that I am, in fact, a ‘real’ poet, even without the English major or MFA. That feeling has been extraordinary.”
The bittersweet recognition for a poem about her loss and grief has allowed Murray to reflect on her journey as a whole person.
“We are more than our job titles,” said Murray. “My professional life in evaluation and the nonprofit sector is very important to me, but so are all the other identities, big and small, that shape how I move through the world.”
