Kirsten Miller (South African writer)

Writing

Kirsten Miller is a South African novelist, writer and artist with four full length books published between 2007 and 2018.

Her first book Children on the Bridge: A Story of Autism in South Africa is an autobiographical account of her work as a tutor of autistic children. It details the challenges in dealing with these children and their families and the effect this work has on her personal life.[1][2]

Her novel All is Fish was shortlisted for the 2005 European Union Literary Awards.[3] The novel is set in the resort town of Mtunzini in Zululand, South Africa and deals warmly with the complex relationships between the three central protagonists.[4][5]

African Moo-nlight at Waterfront Mall, Cape Town

In May 2014 the novel Sister Moon was published by Random House. Sister Moon is a story of love and growing up, of exclusion and abuse.[6]

She has published short stories in 5 collections ("When the Master Calls", "The Chief's Spell", "White Boy", "Chance Encounter", "Only in Art" and "Mobile" published in Uncovered Mirrors, African Road, African Compass, Dinaane: Short Stories by South African Women, New Writing in Africa and Africa Inside Out, respectively), and was also a finalist 3 times in the SA Pen Awards.[7] In 2012 her autism themed play "Remember Joe" was published in Short, Sharp and Snappy, a collection of plays by South African playwrights and authors.

Kirsten has written an illustrated children's book titled "A Time for Fairies", which was published in South Africa in 2008.[8]

Public and TV Appearances

Miller was featured in the 2008, 2015 and 2018 Time of the Writer International Writers Festivals alongside Breyten Breytenbach, Charles Mungoshi, Ananda Devi and John Pilger.[9][10] Miller has been a featured book reviewer for the Sunday Times and has contributed regularly to South African Airways's inflight magazine Sawubona.[11] SABC TV featured Kirsten in the series The Power Within , aired in December 2009, where she discussed her work in autism, writing and art.

In 2016 Kirsten miller won the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize for Best Unpublished Adventure Manuscript with "The Hum of the Sun". Her prize from the Wilbur and Niso Smith Foundation allowed her to travel to Ireland and Spain, spending time in the cities of Dublin and Barcelona to do research for a future novel. The Hum of the Sun was published by Kwela Books in 2018.

Art

Kirsten Miller's artwork works in fabric, oils and watercolours, drawing inspiration from her surroundings and thoughts. Johannesburg's Unity Gallery has held a solo exhibitions of her work in 2005 and 2012.[12][13] Her lifesize fabric, beads and fibreglass commission of African Moo-nlight for CowParade was purchased on auction by the brewer SABMiller.[14]

Qualifications and Work

Miller has a BA (Hons.) cum laude and an MA summa cum laude from the University of Natal and has held jobs as a university lecturer, creativity teacher and dolphin trainer. She has lived in London, Cape Town and Johannesburg. Kirsten currently lives in Durban and is the director of the NGO Action in Autism which assists autistic children and their families. Her spare time is spent attending to her artwork and writing.[15]

References

  1. ↑ Lindsay Ord - The Daily News. "Entering their closed minds - Interview and Review".
  2. ↑ Cathryn Pearman-Owens - The Citizen. "Positive View - Review". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007.
  3. ↑ http://jacana.co.za/resources/jacana-news-80726/2162-the-european-union-literary-award-to-continue-as-the-dinaane-debut-fiction-award-from-2015
  4. ↑ Litnet. "EU Literary Award: Jury Comments - Review". Archived from the original on 28 September 2007.
  5. ↑ Janet van Eeden - The Natal Witness. "Three childhood friends re-unite - Review".
  6. ↑ "Random House Struik".
  7. ↑ BOOK SA - Caroline. "Kirsten Miller: Renaissance Woman". Archived from the original on 29 September 2007.
  8. ↑ A Time for Fairies. "Website". Archived from the original on 9 October 2008.
  9. ↑ Centre for Creative Arts. "2008 Time of the Writer". Archived from the original on 1 May 2008.
  10. ↑ http://cca.ukzn.ac.za/index.php/time-of-the-writer-home
  11. ↑ Kirsten Miller. "Review Justin Cartwright's "To Heaven by Water"". Archived from the original on 22 May 2009.
  12. ↑ Artthrob. "Guateng Listings".
  13. ↑ Unity Design. "Gallery". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007.
  14. ↑ CowParade South Africa. "African Moo-nlight - Picture and Artist Bio".
  15. ↑ Kirsten Miller. "Homepage". Archived from the original on 8 October 2007.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.