Writing Kirsten Miller is a South African novelist, writer and artist with five full-length books published between 2006 and 2020. 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. Her first novel, All is Fish, was shortlisted for the 2005 European UnionLiterary Awards. 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. In May 2014the novelSister Moon was published by Random House. Sister Moon is a story of love and growing up, of exclusion and abuse. Two further novels The Hum of the Sun and All That is Left were published by 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. 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 magazineSawubona. Kirsten has written an illustrated children's book titled "A Time for Fairies", which was published in South Africa in 2008. Public and TV Appearances 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. 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 , 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 times finalist in the SA Pen Awards 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In 2016 Kirsten Miller won the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize for Best Unpublished Adventure Manuscript with "The Hum of the Sun".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 awarded by the Minara Organisation for her manuscript Comfortable Skin and her published work The Hum of the Sun.
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. Her life-size fabric, beads and fibreglass commission of African Moo-nlight for CowParade was purchased on auction by the brewer SABMiller. Qualifications and Work Miller has a BA 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 which assists autistic children and adults and their families. Her spare time is spent attending to her artwork and writing. List of Published Work Literary Fiction
All That is Left - 2020
The Hum of the Sun - 2018
Sister Moon - 2014
All is Fish - 2007
Autobiography
Children on the Bridge: A Story of Autism in South Africa - 2006
