Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
n
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...
, fiction writer, essayist and blogger. He is also a professor of creative writing."Profile: Dr Kei Miller" Department of English, Royal Holloway, University of London.
Mervyn Morris
Mervyn Eustace Morris OM (born 21 February 1937) is a poet and professor emeritus at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. According to educator Ralph Thompson, "In addition to his poetry, which has ranked him among the top West In ...
, who encouraged his writing. Afterwards, Miller began publishing widely throughout the Caribbean.
In 2004, he left for England to study for an MA in Creative Writing (The Novel) at
Manchester Metropolitan University
Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...
under the tutelage of poet and scholar Michael Schmidt. Miller later completed a PhD in English Literature at the
University of Glasgow
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.
Career
In 2006, Miller's first book of poetry was released, ''Kingdom of Empty Bellies'' (Heaventree Press). It was shortly followed by a collection of short stories, ''The Fear of Stones'', which partly explores issues of Jamaican homophobia. The collection was shortlisted in 2007 for a
Commonwealth Writers' Prize
Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...
in the category of Best First Book (Canada or Caribbean). His second collection of poetry, ''There Is an Anger That Moves'', was published in 2007 by Carcanet Press. He is also the editor of Carcanet's 2007 ''New Caribbean Poetry: An Anthology''. His first novel, ''The Same Earth'', was published in 2008, followed in 2010 by ''The Last Warner Woman''. That same year saw the publication of his poetry collection ''A Light Song of Light''. In 2013 his ''Writing Down the Vision: Essays & Prophecies'' was published, and in 2014 a collection of poems for which he was awarded the
Forward Prize
The Forward Prizes for Poetry are major British awards for poetry, presented annually at a public ceremony in London. They were founded in 1992 by William Sieghart with the aim of celebrating excellence in poetry and increasing its audience. The ...
, ''The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion''.
Hilary Mantel
Dame Hilary Mary Mantel ( ; born Thompson; 6 July 1952 – 22 September 2022) was a British writer whose work includes historical fiction, personal memoirs and short stories. Her first published novel, '' Every Day Is Mother's Day'', was relea ...
chose ''The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion'' as one of her favourite books of 2014. This compilation includes a poem on unusual Jamaican place-names, such as
Me-no-Sen-You-no-Come
Me-no-Sen-You-no-Come is a village in the Cockpit Country of western Jamaica. It is now a part of a district called Aberdeen, Jamaica, in the north-east section of Saint Elizabeth Parish, and is not extinct, as was originally believed. From the Jam ...
. He published a collection of essays titled ''Things I Have Withheld'' in 2021, which was shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction.
In 2014, Miller was named as one of the 20 "
Next Generation Poets The Next Generation poets are a list of young and middle-aged figures from British poetry, mostly British, compiled by a panel for the Poetry Book Society in 2004. This is a promotional exercise, and a sequel to the New Generation poets (1994). The ...
", a list compiled every ten years by the
Poetry Book Society
The Poetry Book Society (PBS) was founded in 1953 by T. S. Eliot and friends, including Sir Basil Blackwell, "to propagate the art of poetry". Eric Walter White was secretary from December 1953 until 1971, and was subsequently the society's chai ...
.
He was an International Writing Fellow at the
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...
, and has also been a visiting writer at
York University
York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...
in Canada, at the Department of Library Services in the
British Virgin Islands
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and a Vera Rubin Fellow at
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  ...
. He currently divides his time between Jamaica and the United Kingdom. Until 2014, he was Reader at the
University of Glasgow
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, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
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. He is currently Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Exeter.
Miller's third novel, '' Augustown'', won the 2017
Griffin Poetry Prize
The Griffin Poetry Prize is Canada's most generous poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin.
Before 2022, the awards went to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language. ...
.
Awards and honours
*2007: International Writer's Fellowship at the
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...
*2009: Silver
Musgrave Medal
The Musgrave Medal is an annual award by the Institute of Jamaica in recognition of achievement in art, science, and literature.Webster, Valerie J. (2000), ''Awards, Honors & Prizes, Volume 2'', Gale Group, , p. 447. Originally conceived in 1889 a ...
from the
Institute of Jamaica
The Institute of Jamaica (IOJ), founded in 1879, is the country's most significant cultural, artistic and scientific organisation:John Llewellyn Rhys Prize
The John Llewellyn Rhys Prize was a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of literature (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama) by an author from the Commonwealth aged 35 or under, written in English and published in the United Kingdom ...
, ''A Light Song of Light''
*2013: Rex Nettleford Fellow in Cultural Studies
*2013: Shortlisted for the Phillis Wheatley Book Award in Fiction, ''The Last Warner Woman''
*2014: Named as one of the
Next Generation Poets The Next Generation poets are a list of young and middle-aged figures from British poetry, mostly British, compiled by a panel for the Poetry Book Society in 2004. This is a promotional exercise, and a sequel to the New Generation poets (1994). The ...
*2014:
OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature
OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, inaugurated in 2011 by the NGC Bocas Lit Fest, is an annual literary award for books by Caribbean writers published in the previous year.Dylan Thomas Prize The Dylan Thomas Prize is a leading prize for young writers presented annually. The prize, named in honour of the Welsh writer and poet Dylan Thomas, brings international prestige and a remuneration of £30,000 (~$46,000). It is open to published ...
, ''The Cartographer Tries to Map A Way to Zion''
*2014: Winner of the
Forward Prize
The Forward Prizes for Poetry are major British awards for poetry, presented annually at a public ceremony in London. They were founded in 1992 by William Sieghart with the aim of celebrating excellence in poetry and increasing its audience. The ...
for Poetry, ''The Cartographer Tries to Map A Way to Zion''
*2017: Winner of the
Jhalak Prize
The Jhalak Prize for Book of the Year by a Writer of Colour is an annual literary prize awarded to British or British-resident BAME writers. £1,000 is awarded to the sole winner. The Jhalak Prize launched in 2016 and was created by writers Sun ...
Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd (established 1949), often shortened to W&N or Weidenfeld, is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It has been a division of the French-owned Orion Publishing Group since 1991.
History
George Weidenfeld a ...
, 2008, ; Phoenix, 2009, .
*''The Last Warner Woman'' (novel), Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2010, ; Phoenix, 2011, .
*''A Light Song of Light'' (poems),"A Light Song of Light" page at Carcanet. Carcanet Press, 2010, .
*''Writing Down the Vision: Essays & Prophecies'',
Peepal Tree Press
Peepal Tree Press is a publisher based in Leeds, England which publishes Caribbean, Black British, and South Asian fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama and academic books. It was founded after a paper shortage in Guyana halted production of new bo ...
The Glasgow Herald
''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...
'', 2 August 2008.
*
Nicholas Laughlin
Nicholas Laughlin (born 6 May 1975)"In brief" Nicholas Laughlin's website. is a writer and editor from