Kirsten Miller (South African writer)

Kirsten Miller is a South African novelist, writer and artist with five full-length books published between 2006 and 2020.

Writing

Kirsten Miller

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 first 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]

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] Two further novels The Hum of the Sun and All That is Left were published by NB Publishers in 2018 and 2020 respectively.

She has published short stories in 5 collections and was also a 3 times finalist 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. Miller has been a featured book reviewer for the Sunday Times and has contributed regularly to South African Airways' in-flight magazine Sawubona.[8]

Kirsten has written an illustrated children's book titled "A Time for Fairies", which was published in South Africa in 2008.[9]


Public and TV Appearances

South African writers Kirsten Miller, Sabata Mokae, Don Mattera and Zakes Mda at the KZNSA Art Gallery

Miller was featured in the 2008, 2015, 2018 and 2020 Time of the Writer International Writers Festivals alongside Breyten Breytenbach, Charles Mungoshi, Ananda Devi and John Pilger.[10][11] Kirsten has been a participant in the Franschhoek Literary Festival, the Midlands Literary Festival and the Karoo Writer's Festival.

SABC TV featured Kirsten in the series The Power Within, aired in December 2009, where she discussed her work in autism, writing and art. She has made a number of TV and radio appearances where she has spoken about her writing and about autism.


Literary Awards

  • Her first novel, All is Fish, was shortlisted for the 2005 European Union Literary Awards.[3]
  • 3 times finalist in the SA Pen Awards[7] for short stories.
  • In 2016 Kirsten Miller won the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize for Best Unpublished Adventure Manuscript with "The Hum of the Sun".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 unnamed novel. The Hum of the Sun was published by Kwela Books in 2018.
  • In 2018 and 2019 Miller won the Aziz Hassim Literary Awards (Main Category) awarded by the Minara Organisation for her manuscript Comfortable Skin (published in March 2020 as All That Is Left[12])[13] and her published work The Hum of the Sun.
  • The Hum of the Sun has been long-listed for the 2020 International Dublin Literary Award along with Cynthia Jele, Tim Winton and Haruki Murakami[14]


Art

African Moo-nlight at Waterfront Mall, Cape Town

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.[15][16] Her life-size fabric, beads and fibreglass commission of African Moo-nlight for CowParade was purchased on auction by the brewer SABMiller.[17]


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 adults and their families. Her spare time is spent attending to her artwork and writing.[18]


List of Published Work

Literary Fiction

  • All That is Left - (Kwela) 2020
  • The Hum of the Sun - (Kwela) 2018
  • Sister Moon - (Umuzi) 2014
  • All is Fish - (Jacana) 2007

Autobiography

  • Children on the Bridge: A Story of Autism in South Africa - (Jacana) 2006

Short Stories and Plays in Collections

  • "Remember Joe" in Short, Sharp and Snappy - 2012
  • "Mobile" in Africa Inside Out - 2012
  • "Only in Art" in New Writing from Africa - 2009
  • "Chance Encounter" in Dinaane: Short Stories by South African Women - 2007
  • "The Chief's Spell" in African Road - 2006
  • "White Boy" in African Compass - 2005
  • "When the Master Calls" in Uncovered Mirrors - 1999

Illustrated Children's Book

  • A Time for Faeries - (Reach) 2008


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. Kirsten Miller. "Review Justin Cartwright's "To Heaven by Water"". Archived from the original on 22 May 2009.
  9. A Time for Fairies. "Website".
  10. Centre for Creative Arts. "2008 Time of the Writer". Archived from the original on 1 May 2008.
  11. http://cca.ukzn.ac.za/index.php/time-of-the-writer-home
  12. "[Fiction issue] Read an excerpt from All That Is Left, the forthcoming novel from Kirsten Miller". The Johannesburg Review of Books. 5 December 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  13. http://pensouthafrica.co.za/kirsten-miller-wins-the-2017-aziz-hassim-literary-award-main-category/
  14. https://www.timeslive.co.za/authors/nb-publishers. "Two Kwela novels nominated for 2020 International Dublin Literary Award". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  15. Artthrob. "Guateng Listings".
  16. Unity Design. "Gallery". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007.
  17. CowParade South Africa. "African Moo-nlight - Picture and Artist Bio".
  18. Kirsten Miller. "Homepage". Archived from the original on 8 October 2007.
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