"I follow you because you leave no path,
no footprints in the dirt or sand.
I follow you because you trust the sea.
Storm after storm, I need you to know this."
Bio
James Miller began writing poetry as a student in the English department at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts in creative writing, he continued to New York University where he completed his Master of Fine Arts in poetry. His poems have been published widely both at home in the States and abroad. James Miller is the author of Shell Songs (White Violet Press). He has new poems forthcoming in America and The Lyric.
James Miller is also a singer-songwriter. His songs are beloved by many. His music can be accessed on this website or at Soundcloud, YouTube, and Bandcamp.
As with all things, James Miller owes much thanks to his friends and family, particularly his brother and father, for their kindness and support.
"Take a deep breath in as you read James Miller's Shell Songs and you will smell the briny sea air, while ever-changing images and words roll by in waves of shadow and light."
-Nancy Mellichanp Savo, Associate Editor of The Lyric
"A poet's book is like a chicken's nest: a lot of straw but sometimes you find an egg. The eggs in this collection - and there are many - are among the finest out there.
They rhyme and scan but subtly, quietly. They aren't showy about it. They see technique as necessary but secondary or auxiliary to the real business of poetry which is feeling, emotion. And there's a ton of emotion in Miller's best poems. He mainly writes about love, death, loss and bereavement, but he isn't sappy or naive about it. His best work resists easy literal paraphrase in the classic Dickinson slant manner, but without being cryptic. To this end he often deploys metaphors of land and sea, seasides and beaches. As life and love end in death, so the seaside meets the sea. Another of Miller's strong suits is his Frostian ability to infuse rhyme and meter with the naturalness of human speech. A collection to be grateful for by a poet to watch."
-Pino, Editor of the Rotary Dial
