Writing
'I enjoy the process of writing,' says Miles. 'There are so many aspects of it that are appealing - the chance to be creative, the telling of a story, the opportunity for thought and reflection. Writing helps you to crystalise thought and emotion, and it's a powerful thing.' Miles' writing has appeared in many different modes : a novel (A Song For Nicky Moon, 2010), a book of poems (The Border, 2011), journalism for magazines and newspapers, ghost writing a blog for a celebrity, and writing for BBC Radio. Miles began writing in the 1980s, encouraged by his great English teacher at The Beacon School in Amersham, Christopher Copeman. Christopher entered some of Miles' work into the WHSmith competition, and in 1984 Miles had several pieces of writing in the annual anthology. After that, he edited the school newspaper at Berkhamsted School, then at York St John University, where he studied English literature and Drama between 1990 and 1994, wrote poetry, songs, short stories and journalism and completed an academic study of George Orwell. In 1997 he began writing for The Big Issue In The North, and went on to write for The Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph, Guardian, Independent, Yorkshire Post, Northern Echo and many more between 2002 and 2011. His satirical column for BBC Radio York, 'Next Week's News' ran for two years between 2007 and 2009. In 2009 he began a one year writing residency at a prison East Yorkshire. He has worked as visiting lecturer for Leeds Trinity All Saints College, writer in residence for a creative writing project for the NHS in Hull, and manager of York Literature Festival (2008, 2009, 2010). His poems have appeared in Orbis, Frogmore Papers, Dreamcatcher, Aesthetica, South Bank Poetry and several anthologies. He has won several prizes for his poems. Click here to read some of Miles' poetry.
'Writing is a discipline,' says Miles. 'And it takes a long time to become a good writer. I think I'm slowly improving be, after 27 years with a pen in my hand.'
A Song For Nicky Moon
A Song For Nicky Moon
A Song For Nicky Moon was shortlisted for The Times / Chicken House children's writing award in February 2010. The story is a powerful tale of growing up, friendship and music, and centres on the friendship between two boys, Dan and Nicky, and their quest to form a band. 'I remember my teenage years very clearly,' says Miles, 'and wanted to include some of that emotion into the story. Nicky Moon was the first long piece of writing I did that worked on different levels, with characters, plot and dialogue all coming together.'
The Border
The Border (Valley Press, 2011)
The Border is Miles Cain's first volume of poetry. Inspired by writers like Carol Ann Duffy, Simon Armitage, Philip Larkin, Matthew Sweeney and Sharon Olds, Miles takes everyday situations and gives them a surreal twist. A woman borrows her husband's tongue, a man runs across half the world, a teenage boy sees a crack appearing in the centre of a town. These poems are powerful, emotive stories dwelling on what it means to be alive in the world today.
Buy the Border from the Valley Press website: http://www.valleypressuk.com/books
To buy The Border from Waterstone's:
http://www.waterstones.com/waterstones...
Read some of the poems from The Border here…
'This is a fantastic collection. Miles Cain writes bleak and big-hearted poems with a wit that matches his eye for detail. Like the saxophonist in 'Sax', these poems appear straightforward and unassuming, but they have that observational acuity, the ability to project and that passion which "tunes every face to freedom".'
Luke Kennard
'These poems present the world through Cain-tinted glasses, making it a magical place, a place lit
by possibility, mapped by language...'Ian McMillan
'Miles Cain's poetry is fast, to the point, full of power. He leaps into other personalities, other eras, other centuries - bringing to the near or distant past the vivdness and rhythms of the immediate now. Sometimes his poems lead to a whole world being reconstructed. From certain hells, come strange loves.'
Paul Sutherland, Dreamcatcher Magazine
'Miles Cain is already well-known for his songs and storytelling, but in recent years he has been carrying off poetry prizes too. The Border, his exciting debut poetry collection, will win him many more admirers.'
Debjani Chatterjee, poet & storyteller
