By Gemma Tadman

At the end of last month, Royal Holloway’s own Dr Kei Miller was named as one of, ‘5 Modern Day Poets Who Will Legit Get You Excited About Poetry’. The article, which was run on the Barnes and Noble website, is a well-earned honour for Miller. Not only is Barnes and Noble the largest retail bookseller in the United States, but it also publishes select titles, and, in 2003 the empire acquired renowned Sterling Publishing house. Kei Miller’s spotlight will no doubt bring even more attention and acclamation to the successful poet, novelist and creative writing teacher.

The accolade should come as no surprise to Miller; the talented writer has already earned multiple awards and honours. In 2014, he was named as one of twenty Next Generation Poets by the Poetry Book Society, and was the 2014 winner of both the Forward Prize for best poetry collection, and the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature. Miller has also been shortlisted for the international Dylan Thomas Prize, the Phillis Wheatley Book Award, and the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, among many others.

The Barnes and Noble article draws on Miller’s collection The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion, commenting on Miller’s ability to create poems that ‘writhe and twist, pulling you along with lines that wrap into the next’. It is Miller’s keen focus on moments in history, both the important and the non-important moments, that makes the work so poignant, and allows the exploration of language and its development. Check out The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion.

Gemma Tadman

Image courtesy of Wellcome Collection