Revisiting Movable Type: Issue no. 1 Featured Writer
The Poetry of Friendship—E. Ethelbert Miller
The Poetry of Friendship—E. Ethelbert Miller
There was a time in my life when I often found myself thinking about growing old as well as dying.
Some of this was probably linked to my bouts with depression. The writing profession is pretty much a solitary one. Two eyes on a page, one hand on a pen or two hands typing away on a keypad. In 2015 I found myself suddenly unemployed after working forty years at Howard University. I clearly remember the day because a few hours after I took my boxes home from the office I was sitting in the ballpark getting ready to watch the Washington Nationals. In many ways staring at the green outfield was meditative and a way of exhaling and letting go. In between innings I thought about where my life was and what I now hoped my future would be.
For much of my life I defined myself as a literary activist. I was especially concerned with the promotion and preservation of black literary culture. I was not a writer with an agent and a New York publisher. I was somewhat marginal to the business of writing. When I started writing poetry it was not for the purpose of pursuing money and being able to raise a family, it was a calling” and a desire to have my voice join a chorus of cultural workers using art for social change. As a literary activist I spent a lot of time studying how writing careers began, how they were sustained and, at times, somehow sadly fell apart. A few well known writers had literary assistants, people who loved and respected their work. They aided a writer with everything from editing and proofreading to helping them maintain their personal schedules. Assistants at times were first responders, they understood the moods of the people they were working with. They were navigators making sure creative work reached the safe harbor of publication.
A good relationship between a writer and an assistant should be a strong binary one. It can be a successful pairing if the assistant is also a writer with a career. A good literary partnership is better than a marriage. Maybe this is because there are no vows and expectations, only a love for literature and the celebrating of the creative process.
When I met Kirsten Porter in 2007, then a student, on the Marymount University campus in Virginia, I had no idea our lives would become connected, braided together. From our meeting at Marymount to her journey to George Mason University for an MFA and then back to Marymount to teach as an English professor; it was like following Marco Polo. During the journey Kirsten became a popular and dedicated teacher.
Maybe it was getting to know her through her students that I began to admire her. When I was invited to be a guest speaker at Marymount, it was her students who embraced me with warmth as well as a critical understanding of my work. Over the years our conversations expanded into discussions of Kirsten’s own work and the themes she was exploring in poetry. I was very much interested in her career path and who she was as a person. I was impressed with Kirsten’s love and compassion for dogs needing to be rescued and the closeness she had with her parents. Her caring provided a window into her character and the holy tenderness of her soul.
If you have to place your life in someone’s hands you want that person to share your breath, to have their heart touch yours. I’ve been blessed by Kirsten Porter being that person. I feel this woman cares for my life as well as my work. When she edited The Collected Poems of E. Ethelbert Miller (2016), I asked her to write a long introduction. I wanted her to be the defining voice on what I had written.
As my literary assistant, Kirsten Porter helps me manage what has become a very busy life. Many new doors and opportunities opened after my departure from Howard University. I became a If you have to place your life in writer full-time. I started hosting a regular television and radio show. My work load tripled. Without Kirsten’s aid it would someone’s hands you want that person to share your breath, to be difficult to manage and respond to have their heart touch yours. various requests. When she asked me to contribute to the first issue of 1455’s Movable Type, I gave her full access to any of my work she wanted to use. I trust her judgement and editor’s eye.
Kirsten is the first person who receives a copy of everything I write. She is the first individual I share good news with. Today I’m more efficient thanks to her. I’m deeply grateful for all the time she has invested in my work and helping me share it with an audience as well as with what Ayi Kwei Armah called “the beautyful ones not yet born.”
ABOUT E. ETHELBERT MILLER
Bio: E. Ethelbert Miller is a literary activist and the author of two memoirs and several books of poetry. He hosts the weekly WPFW morning radio show On the Margin with E. Ethelbert Miller and hosts and produces The Scholars on UDC-TV which received a 2020 Telly Award. Currently he serves on the boards of the DC Collaborative for Humanities and Education and The Inner Loop. Miller’s latest book If God Invented Baseball (City Point Press) was awarded the 2019 Literary Award for poetry by the American Library Association’s Black Caucus.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eugeneethelbertmiller/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ethelbert.miller/
Join Our Community
At 1455, we believe story connects, heals, and transforms. If you share that belief, we invite you to subscribe to us here on Substack for new interviews, essays, and events celebrating the creative community.
1455 Needs Your Support
Your support helps us keep all 1455 programs free and accessible—please consider making a donation to sustain our mission and amplify diverse voices around the world.
Follow 1455
Website: 1455litarts.org
Instagram: @1455litarts
Facebook: facebook.com/1455litarts
X (Twitter): @1455litarts
YouTube: 1455 Literary Arts Channel
LinkedIn: 1455 Literary Arts