While Giants Sleep: Selected Writing 1964-2006

by Andy Christopher Miller

WINNER OF THE YEOVIL LITERARY PRIZE FOR POETRY Andy Miller's prose and poetry has won a range of awards and commendations. Daisy Goodwin, the judge for the 2011 international Yeovil Literary Prize, described him as having '. . . a distinctive voice. . .' and his prize-winning poem 'Attempting to Interfere' as being '. . . mysterious but repaying a close reading'. His long out-of-print booklet 'Hanging in the Balance' also attracted critical acclaim and is reprinted here in full. This new anthology displays a twin focus on mountaineering, rock climbing and outdoor adventure and on relationships across the adult life span. 'This collection pulses with life and energy … Previously published and unpublished work spanning forty-two years is combined in this book, providing an intimate overview of a life lived on the edge in the most literal sense … Miller's writing is sometimes humorous, deeply personal, and full of richly detailed observations, part of a continually developing tradition of walking and climbing literature'. Aly Stoneman Left Lion, Nottingham

132 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 4, 2015

About the author

Andy Christopher Miller was born in the Lost Children’s Hut on Weymouth Beach, England, in 1946. (The local maternity hospital was full as a result of the post-War ‘baby bulge’, necessitating this temporary overspill arrangement). He can recite almost verbatim the entire content of the adjacent Punch and Judy show.

Andy has been writing since his school days, publishing poetry in his school, then college, and finally national-level magazines culminating in his winning, in 2011, the international Yeovil Literary Prize for Poetry.

He began writing a daily diary in 1967 and this now exceeds ‘War and Peace’ by more than three and a half times. In length if not in literary quality!

As a life long enthusiast for rock climbing, mountaineering, wildernesses and coasts, Andy has published articles in a range of related magazines and journals. He has a long track record of ten books, chapters and journal articles in his professional capacity as a practicing and academic psychologist and an Honorary Professor at the Universities of both Nottingham and Warwick.

He has self-published four books in the past decade:

• ‘Never: A Word’ – a novel set mainly on the Dorset coast and following three generations of women as they grapple with the consequences of family tragedy and secrets through a century of social change.

• ‘The Ragged Weave of Yesterday’ – an examination of the purpose and psychology behind the strange but widespread practice of chronicling a life through personal diary and blog writing.

• ‘The Naples of England’ – a lightly fictionalised memoir and affectionate look at growing up on a council estate in post-War seaside Britain.

• ‘While Giants Sleep’ - an anthology of his published and unpublished essays and poetry.

In all his writing, - fiction and non-fiction, prose and poetry – Andy has explored themes of families and relationships, adventure and resilience, individual psychology and social history.