Miles Liss
Current City, State, Country
Birth City, State, Country
Biography
Miles Liss earned his MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. He is the winner of the 2021 AWP Kurt Brown Prize in Poetry, and a past attendee of Breadloaf Writers Conference, where he studied poetry with National Book Award winner Arthur Sze. His poems have been published in Atlanta Review, Gargoyle Magazine, and Poetica Magazine, among others.
Recently, he combined his poetry and art practices, completing a collection entitled Some Inconvenient Poems, published by Death of Workers Whilst Building Skyscrapers Press.
Miles’s style ranges from the political and ecological to the spiritual and personal. He’s influenced by such poets as Allen Ginsberg, Rumi, DuFu and James Wright. Growing up by the ocean, Miles is interested in our natural environment and how it helps enhance our sense of spirituality and interconnectedness. Miles presently lives in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife, the poet Zakia Ahmadzai.
What is the relationship between Judaism and/or Jewish culture and your poetry?
It’s hard to have hope in these times, but I do lean on my Jewish cultural identity and spirituality when searching for it, both personally and in my poetry. I aspire toward a unity of all beings, and believe the only way to achieve this is through self-reflection, kindness, and empathy towards others. Being spiritually centered is a part of it, and I don\’t only mean having faith in God. One can be an atheist and be spiritually centered. We\’re all interconnected. It’s important to remember that as we try to navigate this life.
Published Works
Some Inconvenient Poems (Death of Workers Whilst Building Skyscrapers Press, 2023)
Author Site
Links to Sample Works
https://www.thenormalschool.com/blog/2022/5/4/miles-liss
https://www.thefourthriver.com/tributaries-newnature/tag/Miles+Liss
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/809156/pdf
Current Title
Education
Undergraduate, B.A., English, Brandeis University
Graduate, Med, University of the Virgin Islands
Graduate, MFA in Writing, Vermont College of Fine Arts