E. Ethelbert Miller

E. Ethelbert Miller is a writer and literary activist. He is the author of several collections of poetry and two memoirs. Mr. Miller serves as a board member for The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region. For 14 years he has been the editor of Poet Lore, the oldest poetry magazine published in the United States. In 1996, Emory and Henry College awarded Miller an honorary degree of Doctor of Literature. He has been a Fulbright Senior Specialist Program Fellow to Israel in 2004 and 2012. Mr. Miller has taught at several universities and currently serves on the faculty at the University of Houston/Victoria. His poetry has been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, German, Hungarian, Chinese, Farsi, Norwegian, Tamil and Arabic.

Mr. Miller is often heard on National Public Radio. He is host of the weekly morning radio show On the Margin which airs on WPFW-FM 89.3. Mr. Miller is host and producer of The Scholars on UDC-TV, and his E-Notes has been a popular blog since 2004. On April 19, 2015, Mr. Miller was inducted into the Washington, DC, Hall of Fame. In 2016, he received the AWP George Garrett Award for Outstanding Community Service in Literature and the DC Mayor's Arts Award for Distinguished Honor. His latest book of poetry, The Collected Poems of E. Ethelbert Miller, edited by Kirsten Porter and published in 2016 by Willow Books, is a comprehensive collection that represents over 40 years of his career as a poet.

Photo © John B. Parks

Book Reviews by E. Ethelbert Miller

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Interviews are either appetizers or afterhours drinks. They either prepare you for a full conversation or one reads them to forget the long day.

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“Sandeep Jauhar is an author and physician who writes about the brain while caring deeply about the heart.”

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“explains why the number 42 should never be worn by any baseball player ever again.”

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“When I knocked a guy down, there was no second part to the story.”
—St. Louis Cardinals and Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson

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Trying to determine the best of anything is difficult. What are the criteria? Who is making the decisions? Who is always expected to be among the best?

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A Fool’s Errand by Lonnie Bunch III is a literary combo. It’s a book about a man, a building, and a race. This is a book that needed to be written.

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Everyone should speak baseball. There is something about the game that communicates ideas and feelings. The game is more than language. It might be a metaphor for life.

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"Selig has also given us a book that captures his love for the game. There is goodness here, a transforming goodness."

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Let’s write two or more. This year there are a number of books about the great Chicago baseball player Ernie Banks that made it into the publisher’s lineup.

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“You all right, kid?” This is the question directed by Yogi Berra throughout his life to his son Dale.

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It’s always best to write your memoir before someone writes your biography. Play Hungry joins a lineup of several books about Pete Rose.

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“Yuval Taylor’s love telling tale is intriguing, funny, and filled with much speculation. It’s a book that might be ready for the big screen.

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There is something about the word delights that quickly brings to mind such things as sweetness, laughter, and endless flirtation. Ross Gay’s small book seems designed for the backpack.

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“this graphic novel is for readers who know how to snap their fingers while turning the page.”

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Back in 2013 Michelle Obama took her anti-childhood obesity campaign to Mississippi. She spoke at an elementary school not far from Jackson.

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“a gift that feeds those who wish to sing and long to write.”

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What should “A Reader” attempt to do? One looks for it to provide an overview of an author’s work. The reader is a book that should be suitable for the classroom and instruction.

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Understanding Trump is one of those books that can be quickly pasted together and sold in an airport bookstore. . . .

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Somewhere after every NFL Super Bowl one will find many die-hard fans weeping for the team that lost, so it is with presidential elections.

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“a love story that is also a survival story of beauty and hope.”

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This is not one Till tale but three. When young Emmett Till was murdered in Money, Mississippi, in 1955, his death changed the Civil Rights Movement and American history.

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One could compare the artistic career of Clarence Major to that of musical genius Miles Davis. Major has always been miles ahead of other African American writers.

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The 1920s is one of those decades everyone seems to look back at with fascination and nostalgia.

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For many years W. W. Norton employed one of the best poetry editors in the country. Carol Houck Smith who died in 2008 worked at Norton for sixty years.