Jim Wayne Miller (October 21, 1936 – August 18, 1996) was an American poet and educator who had a major influence on literature in the Appalachian region.
Biography
Early years
Jim Wayne Miller was born on October 21, 1936, in
Leicester, North Carolina Leicester ( ) is an unincorporated community in Buncombe County, North Carolina United States; although incorporating was proposed in 2007 and an incorporation bill was briefly filed in the North Carolina General Assembly, no measure has been adopt ...
, to James Woodward Miller and Edith (Smith) Miller.
[''Every Leaf a Mirror.'' Morris Allen Grubbs and Mary Ellen Miller, eds. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2014. Print.] He was raised with five brothers and sisters on a seventy-acre farm in North Turkey Creek, in Buncombe County, about fifteen miles west of
Asheville
Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...
.
His father was a service manager at a
Firestone Complete Auto Care
Firestone Tire and Rubber Company is a tire company founded by Harvey Firestone (1868–1938) in 1900 initially to supply solid rubber side-wire tires for fire apparatus, and later, pneumatic tires for wagons, buggies, and other forms of wheeled ...
in Asheville.
Education and career
Jim Wayne Miller graduated from
Berea College
Berea College is a private liberal arts work college in Berea, Kentucky. Founded in 1855, Berea College was the first college in the Southern United States to be coeducational and racially integrated. Berea College charges no tuition; every adm ...
in
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
in 1958 with a bachelor's degree in English. He had studied abroad in Minden,
Westphalia
Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants.
The territory of the regio ...
, Germany, the summer before his junior year on a homestay scholarship awarded by the
Experiment in International Living
The Experiment in International Living, or The Experiment, is a worldwide program offering homestays, language, arts, community service, ecological adventure, culinary, and regional and cultural exploration programs of international cross-cultur ...
.
Upon graduation, he found work as a teacher of German and English in Fort Knox, Kentucky. In 1960 Miller received an
NDEA
The National Defense Education Act (NDEA) was signed into law on September 2, 1958, providing funding to United States education institutions at all levels.Schwegler 1
NDEA was among many science initiatives implemented by President Dwight D. ...
Fellowship, making it possible for him to pursue graduate studies at
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...
in
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
.
He earned his Ph.D. in German literature there in 1965, completing a dissertation on the German poet
Annette von Droste-Hülshoff
Baroness Anna Elisabeth Franziska Adolphine Wilhelmine Louise Maria von Droste zu Hülshoff, known as Annette von Droste-Hülshoff (; 10 January 179724 May 1848), was a 19th-century German poet, novelist, and composer of Classical music. She was ...
. From 1960 to 1963, he published regularly in Vanderbilt's literary magazine, ''Vagabond''.
By 1963, he had already joined the faculty at
Western Kentucky University
Western Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glasgow, Elizabethtow ...
in Bowling Green, sixty miles north of Nashville. While at Vanderbilt he studied under
Fugitive
A fugitive (or runaway) is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from jail, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals. A fugitive from justice, also known ...
poet
Donald Davidson and
Hawthorne
Hawthorne often refers to the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Hawthorne may also refer to:
Places
Australia
*Hawthorne, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane
Canada
* Hawthorne Village, Ontario, a suburb of Milton, Ontario
United States
* Hawt ...
scholar Randall Stewart. He was a professor of German language and literature at Western Kentucky University for 33 years, in the faculty of the Department of Modern Languages and Intercultural Studies. He served as consultant to Appalachian studies programs in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio and was Visiting Professor in Appalachian Studies at the Berea College Appalachian Center.
Miller was promoted to associate professor of German at Western Kentucky University in 1966 and to full professor in 1970.
In 1969
Sigma Tau Delta
Sigma Tau Delta () is an international excelled English honor society for students of English at four-year colleges and universities who are within the top 30% of their class and have a 3.5 GPA or higher. It presently has over 850 chapters in ...
honored him for excellence in teaching, and in 1976 Western Kentucky University presented him with the University Faculty Award for scholarship and creativity. Berea College awarded him with the honorary degree of Doctor of Literature in 1981.
While on
sabbatical
A sabbatical (from the Hebrew: (i.e., Sabbath); in Latin ; Greek: ) is a rest or break from work.
The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Biblical practice of ''shmita'' (sabbatical year), which is related to agriculture. According to ...
in Germany in 1972, Miller met Austrian poet
Emil Lerperger
Emil or Emile may refer to:
Literature
*''Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
* ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life
*''Emil and the Detective ...
. Miller would later translate a volume of his poetry and also become his literary executor.
In 1977, Miller began his affiliation with the Poet-in-the-Schools Program in Virginia Public Schools. The following year, he began his long association with the
Hindman Settlement School
Hindman Settlement School is a settlement school located in Hindman, Kentucky in Knott County, Kentucky, Knott County. Established in 1902, it was the first rural settlement school in America. Appalachian Writers' Workshop.
In 2015, following the publication of ''A Jim Wayne Miller Reader'', the Appalachian Writers' Workshop honored the memory of Jim Wayne Miller by highlighting his work through lectures and book promotions. In his brief biography of Jim Wayne Miller for ''Appalachian Heritage'', George Brosi writes that Miller "is quite simply an icon in the field of Appalachian Literature—one of its earliest and most ardent supporters."
Among his many projects for the advancement of Appalachian literature was his editing of ten books by
Jesse Stuart
Jesse may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Jesse (biblical figure), father of David in the Bible.
* Jesse (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Jesse (surname), a list of people
Music
* ''Jesse'' ( ...
for re-issue by the Jesse Stuart Foundation.
Miller was elected chair of the
Appalachian Studies Association
The Appalachian Studies Association (ASA) is an organization of scholars and activists interested in Appalachian studies.
According to its web site, “The Appalachian Studies Association (ASA) was formed in 1977 by a group of scholars, teachers, ...
in 1982. The same year, he received the Western Kentucky University Award for public service. For two years, beginning in 1984, he was visiting professor at the James R. Stokely Institute for Liberal Arts Education at the
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...
. He also served as poet-in-residence at
Centre College
Centre College is a private liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky. It is an undergraduate college with an enrollment of approximately 1,400 students. Centre was officially chartered by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1819. The college is ...
in
Danville, Kentucky
Danville is a home rule-class city in Boyle County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 17,236 at the 2020 Census. Danville is the principal city of the Danville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes ...
.
Personal life
Miller married Mary Ellen Yates, a classmate at Berea College, on August 17, 1958. After graduation, they moved to Fort Knox, Kentucky, where Miller taught English and German at a school on the military base.
In 1960, they moved to Nashville, Tennessee. They settled in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where they raised three children. Mary pursued graduate work at the
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...
, where she earned a master's degree in English, and then her Ph.D. work at Vanderbilt University, supported by Miller's faculty position at Western Kentucky University. Eventually, she also landed a tenure-track job at Western Kentucky University, in the Department of English, where she taught for more than 50 years. Mary Ellen Miller (1935-2018) is the author of a book of poems, ''The Poet's Wife Speaks'' (2011). Jim Wayne Miller was diagnosed with
lung cancer
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...
in June 1996. He died at home on August 18.
Writing
Miller is best known as a poet. In his work, he is centrally concerned with the preservation of the Appalachian cultural heritage in the modern world. His writing reflects his own experiences in the mountain South. He invents the figure of the Brier as an Appalachian Everyman, a voice for those voiceless people who are struggling to maintain their connection to a meaningful past. As Joyce Dyer writes, "In his poetry he explores the meaning of his own Appalachian experience, but always places it within a broader regional and national consciousness." Miller wrote satirical essays, articles about Appalachian history and culture, translations, reviews, editions of work by Jesse Stuart, anthologies, and fiction. In his satire, Miller attacks destructive social forces such as American consumerism. He also strives to show that the American South is a diverse place—and specifically that the mountain South is distinct from the lowland South. Miller made the following observation about his aim as a poet, according to Annette Hadley and Matthew Farrell of The Southern Highlands Research Center: "Growing up in North Carolina, I was often amused, along with other natives, at tourists who fished the trout streams. The pools, so perfectly clear, had a deceptive depth. Fishermen unacquainted with them were forever stepping into what they thought was knee-deep water and going in up to their waists or even their armpits, sometimes being floated right off their feet. I try to make poems like those pools, so simple and clear their depth is deceiving. I want the writing to be so transparent that the reader forgets he is reading and is aware only that he is having an experience. He is suddenly plunged deeper than he expected and comes up shivering."
Poet
Robert Morgan praised Miller's first book of poetry, ''Copperhead Cane'' (1964), in these terms: "These poems shine as brightly as if they were written this morning. They do not reflect the fashions of 1965, but have a timeless, crafted quality. They have the authority of form and the authority of felt experience. They are authentic in detail and natural in speech."
Miller was one of the editors of ''Appalachia Inside Out'', a two-volume anthology of Appalachian literature that demonstrates the richness of the culture and imaginative worlds of writers from the mountain South.
He received several awards for his novel ''Newfound'' (1989), including the Best Book of the Year citation from ''
Learning Magazine
Learning is the process of acquiring new understanding, knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, attitudes, and preferences. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals, and some machines; there is also evidence for some kind of learnin ...
'' and Best Book of the Year from ''
Booklist
''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...
''.
Documentary film
In 1985 Western Kentucky University produced a thirty-minute documentary film on the life and poetry of Jim Wayne Miller. Called "I Have a Place: The Poetry of Jim Wayne Miller." It is directed by
Michael Lasater
Michael may refer to:
People
* Michael (given name), a given name
* Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael
Given name "Michael"
* Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...
, a
new media
New media describes communication technologies that enable or enhance interaction between users as well as interaction between users and content. In the middle of the 1990s, the phrase "new media" became widely used as part of a sales pitch for ...
artist now on the Arts faculty at
Indiana University South Bend
Indiana University South Bend (IU South Bend) is a public university in South Bend, Indiana. It is the third largest and northernmost campus of Indiana University.
History
Indiana University began offering classes in South Bend in 1922 as an ...
. The film won a Golden Gate Award at the
San Francisco International Film Festival
The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in in ...
. It was broadcast on PBS stations.
Bibliography
Poetry
* ''Copperhead Cane'' (Robert Moore Allen 1964)
* ''The More Things Change the More They Stay the Same'' (
Whippoorwill Press 1971)
* ''Dialogue with a Dead Man'' (
University of Georgia Press
The University of Georgia Press or UGA Press is the university press of the University of Georgia, a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia. It is the oldest and la ...
1974)
* ''The Mountains Have Come Closer'' (The Appalachian Consortium Press 1980)
* ''Vein of Words'' (
Seven Buffaloes Press undated, but known to be 1984)
* ''Nostalgia for 70'' (Seven Buffaloes Press 1986)
* ''Brier, His Book'' (
Gnomon Press 1988)
* ''Brier Traveling'' (Chapbook;
White Fields Press 1993)
* ''The Brier Poems''. Edited by Jonathan Greene. (Gnomon Press 1997)
* ''Every Leaf a Mirror: A Jim Wayne Miller Reader'', Morris Grubbs and Mary Miller, editors (
University Press of Kentucky
The University Press of Kentucky (UPK) is the scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and was organized in 1969 as successor to the University of Kentucky Press. The university had sponsored scholarly publication since 1943. In 194 ...
2014)
Fiction
* ''Newfound'' (
Orchard Press, 1989); reprint (Gnomon Press 1996)
* ''His First, Best Country'' (Gnomon Press 1993)
Essays and studies
* ''Sideswipes'' (Seven Buffaloes Press 1986)
* Introduction to James Still, ''The Wolfpen Poems'' (Berea College Press 1986)
* ''The Wisdom of Folk Metaphor: The Brier Conducts A Laboratory Experiment'' (Seven Buffaloes Press 1988)
* ''Round and Round with Kahlil Gibran'' (
Rowan Mountain Press 1989)
* ''Southern Mountain Speech'', with Cratis D. Williams and Loyal Jones (Berea College Press 1992)
Translations and anthologies
* Emil Lerperger, ''The Figure of Fulfillment'', Translator (
Green River Press 1975)
* ''I Have a Place'', Editor (Alice Lloyd College 1981)
* ''The Examined Life: Family-Community-Work in American Literature'', Editor (with Karen Lohr) (Appalachian Consortium Press 1989)
* ''Appalachia Inside Out, Volume 1: Conflict and Change'', Editor (with Robert J. Higgs) (
University of Tennessee Press
The University of Tennessee Press is a university press associated with the University of Tennessee.
UT Press was established in 1940 by the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees.
The University of Tennessee Press issues about 35 books each ...
1995)
* ''Appalachia Inside Out, Volume 2: Culture and Custom'', Editor (with Robert J. Higgs) (University of Tennessee Press 1995)
Selected articles by Miller
* "A Mirror for Appalachia." In Higgs, Robert J., and Ambrose N. Manning, editors. ''Voices from the Hills: Selected Readings of Southern Appalachia''. (Frederick Ungar 1975)
* "More on Appalachian Literature," ''Appalachian Journal'' 4 (Autumn 1976)
* "Appalachian Education: A Critique and Suggestions for Reform," ''Appalachian Journal'' 5 (Autumn 1977)
* "Appalachian Literature: A Guide to Appalachian Studies," ''Appalachian Journal'' 5 (Autumn 1977)
* "Appalachia's Literary Renaissance: An Essay-Review of Recent Publications," ''Appalachian Notes'' 5 (1977)
* "Appalachian Values/American Values," ''Appalachian Heritage'' 5 (Fall 1977); 6 (Winter 1978); 6 (Spring 1978); 6 (Summer 1978); 6 (Fall 1978); 7 (Winter 1979)
* "An Exchange of Letters: Frank Steele and Jim Wayne Miller," ''Plainsong'' 2 (Spring 1980)
* "Appalachian Literature." In Stokely, Jim and Johnson, Jeff D, editors. ''An Encyclopedia of East Tennessee'' (Children's Museum of Oak Ridge 1981)
* "Appalachian Studies Hard and Soft: The Action People and the Creative Folk," ''Appalachian Journal'' 9 (Winter/Spring 1982)
* "A Letter on Poetry from Jim Wayne Miller," ''Kentucky Poetry Review'' 18, 19 (Fall/Spring 1983)
* "Appalachian Culture and History: Part of America's Past and Present and Indicative of Its Future," ''Focus: Teaching English Language Arts'' 10 (Winter 1984)
* "Accepting Things Near," ''Appalachian Heritage'' 13 (Winter/Spring 1984)
* "A Life of Fiction (Katherine Anne Porter)," ''Louisville Courier-Journal'' (May 13, 1984)
* "Appalachian Literature: At Home in This World," ''The Iron Mountain Review'' 2 (Summer 1984)
* "Daring to Look in the Well: A Conversation," James Still and Jim Wayne Miller. ''Iron Mountain Review'' 2 (Summer 1984)
* "Katherine Anne Porter," ''High Roads Folio'' 11 (Spring 1986)
* "Jim Dandy: James Still at Eighty," ''Appalachian Heritage'' 14 (Fall 1986)
* "All the Daughters of Her Father's House," ''High Roads Folio'' 12 (1987)
* "Anytime the Ground is Uneven: The Outlook for Regional Studies--And What to Look Out for." In Mallory, William E. and Paul Simpson-Housley, editors. ''Geography and Literature: A Meeting of the Disciplines'' (Syracuse University Press 1987)
* "Jesse Stuart: The Life of the Poet, the Poetic Life," ''Appalachian Heritage'' 15 (Winter 1987)
* "Making a Whole Out of Parts," ''Southern Highlands Institute for Educators Newsletter'' (Fall 1988)
* "New Generation of Savages Sighted in West Virginia," ''Appalachian Heritage'' 16/4 (Fall 1988)
* "Names, Names, Names, " ''The Uncommon Reader'' (Winter 1989)
Selected criticism
* Ahrens, Sylvia. "Jim Wayne Miller: Universal Regionalist." ''Kentucky English Bulletin'' 47.2 (Winter 1998): 75-84.
* Dyer, Joyce. "Dialogue with a Dead Man." ''Appalachian Journal'' 26.1 (Fall 1998): 32-43.
* Edwards, Grace Toney. "Jim Wayne Miller: Holding the Mirror for Appalachia." ''Iron Mountain Review'' 4.2 (Spring 1988): 24-28.
* Hall, Wade. "Jim Wayne Miller's Brier Poems: The Appalachian in Exile." ''Iron Mountain Review'' 4.2 (Spring 1988): 29-33.
* Lang, John. "Jim Wayne Miller and the Brier's Cosmopolitan Regionalism." In Lang, ''Six Poets from the Mountain South.'' Louisiana State University Press, 2010. 9-37.
* Miller, Mary Ellen. "The Literary Influences of Jim Wayne Miller." ''Appalachian Heritage'' 25.4 (Fall 1997): 19-24.
* Morgan, Robert. "Clearing Newground." ''Appalachian Heritage'' 25.4 (Fall 1997): 24-30.
* Pendarvis, Edwina. "Sanctifying the Profane: Jim Wayne Miller's 'Dialogue with a Dead Man'." ''Journal of Kentucky Studies'' 22 (2005): 139-43.
Selected interviews
* "An Interview with Jim Wayne Miller, " Appalachian Journal 6 (Spring 1979)
* Kelly, Patricia P. "An Interview with Jim Wayne Miller." ''Journal of Reading'' 34.8 (May 1991): 666-69.
* Beattie, L. Elisabeth. "Jim Wayne Miller." In ''Conversations with Kentucky Writers. Edited by L. Elisabeth Beattie. University Press of Kentucky, 1996. 242-61.
Awards
* 1967 Alice Lloyd Memorial Prize for Appalachian Poetry
* 1980
Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award for ''The Mountains Have Come Closer''
* 1983-1984
Yaddo
Yaddo is an artists' community located on a estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment.". On March  ...
Fellowship
* 1985 Appalachian Writers Association Book of the Year Award
* 1989 Zoe Kincaid Brockman Memorial Award for Poetry
* 1991 Appalachian Consortium Laurel Leaves Award
* 2015
Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame
* 2015 Special Weatherford Award (Best Appalachian Books) for ''Every Leaf a Mirror''
References
External links
Miller's home pageChronological bibliography in ''Appalachian Heritage'' 25:4Chapter 16 biographyBerea College biographical note"I Have a Place" 30-minute documentary film by Michael LasaterBrief biography by George Brosi in ''Appalachian Heritage'' 37:3
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Jim Wayne
20th-century American poets
Poets from North Carolina
Vanderbilt University alumni
Berea College alumni
Western Kentucky University faculty
American male poets
1936 births
1996 deaths
Writers of American Southern literature
People from Buncombe County, North Carolina
20th-century American male writers
Poets Laureate of Kentucky