As a professor, writer and mother, Erin Murphy often tackles her everyday experiences in her poetry -- but she does it with a surprising approach.

"She turns the world upside down quite often," said Todd Davis, associate professor of English at Penn State Altoona. "She makes us see the world anew."

Murphy, assistant professor of English and creative writing at Penn State Altoona, will share her writing at 12:10 p.m. today at the Palmer Museum of Art. The event is part of the Art of Poetry series and is free and open to the public.

Murphy has published three collections of poetry: Dislocation and Other Theories, Too Much of This World and Science of Desire. Davis and Murphy co-edited the forthcoming Making Poems: 40 Poems with Commentary by the Poets.

Davis cited "Amphibious" as one of Murphy's most surprising poems. The poem features a scene between Murphy and her daughter.

"They had been looking at a painting of a nude, and out of the innocence of a child, her daughter wasn't seeing a nude," Davis said. "She was seeing a frog. Then she asked if she could take the painting into school."

Murphy said she sees everything as "fair game" for writing material, including television shows and conversations. She said her poems often deal with the themes of memory, language and loss, while also employing humor.

"Those themes don't necessarily indicate humor, but it's there, I promise," she said.

Some of Murphy's other poems are based in ekphrastic writing, a style of writing that provides commentary on another art form. She said she plans to read some poems from this genre at today's reading.

Dana Kletchka, curator of education at the museum, said ekphrastic poetry is not a requirement for the poetry series, but many poets often share it.

"It's amazing to me the number of poets who are not only inspired by the world around them, but by works of art," Kletchka said. "It's just two sorts of ways of dealing with the world and expressing thoughts about the work."

Kletchka said she partners with Julia Kasdorf, Master of Fine Arts director for the Department of English, to select the readers for the event. They try to choose people who are somehow affiliated with the university, she added, including graduates or community members.

Davis presented a reading for the poetry series last year and said he enjoyed the experience.

"The intersection between visual art and what a poem might say in a setting where there's visual art really brings about an aesthetic experience you can't have anywhere else," he said.