Jim Wayne Miller

Jim Wayne Miller (1936–1996), one of Appalachia’s premier literary voices, is the author of eight books of poetry (most notably The Brier Poems and Dialogue With A Dead Man), short stories, two novels (Newfound and His First, Best Country), essays and translations. A native of North Turkey Creek, in Buncombe Country, North Carolina, he was Professor of German Language and Literature at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green for over thirty years. He won the Thomas Wolfe Award for his poetry collection, The Mountains Have Come Closer. Fred Chappell said: “If it were not for Miller, the Appalachian literary movement might have foundered before it got started.”