The poems of Kei Miller are rich and languorous. Their language reflects the speech of his native Jamaica, where he was born in 1978, and has a heightened, sometimes Biblical aspect. It sounds almost as if it were written for performance rather than to be read. Yet this is rigorous and literary work. In this essay, Miller reveals how the poetry of the American W. S. Merwin, who worked to communicate experience rather than express a meaning, has a profound effect on his own approach to composing poetry.

Producer: Julian May. Show less