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Patti Miller Patti Miller i(A532 works by) (a.k.a. Pattie Miller)
Born: Established: 1954 Wellington, Wellington area, Wellington - Dubbo - Narromine area, Central West NSW, New South Wales, ;
Gender: Female
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BiographyHistory

Patti Miller has worked as a teacher of life writing classes and founded the Life Stories Workshops. She has also worked as a manuscript editor.

Most Referenced Works

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon The Joy of High Places Sydney : NewSouth Publishing , 2019 16454783 2019 single work autobiography

'They didn’t know it, but Patti Miller and her brother, Barney, shared something in common — a passion for the illuminating joy of wild nature — with all its challenges and dangers.

'In this extraordinary and unexpected book, Patti tells the story of her own long-distance walking over hundreds of kilometres in Europe and of her brother’s obsession with paragliding.

'During their shared childhood on a farm these siblings were virtual strangers under the same roof. As adults, a tragic accident changes their relationship. One day, Barney’s wing collapses and he plummets to earth, breaking his spine. The story of his struggle to walk again intersects Patti’s long-distance journeys, creating an intense narrative of determination and triumph. 

'For Patti, walking is a radical act — a return to what has made us all human — that bestows a connection to wild nature and to creativity itself. But as she listens to her pragmatic and methodical brother tell his story, she learns that flying is his door to untrammelled joy too. She realises that she is ‘meeting’ him for the very first time.

'This beautiful and inspiring book tells that story and reveals that the siblings share a willingness to take risks and an indefatigable determination. And much besides. ' (Publication summary)

2020 longlisted 'The Nib': CAL Waverley Library Award for Literature
y separately published work icon The Mind of a Thief St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 2012 Z1852512 2012 single work autobiography (taught in 2 units)

'For 40,000 years the Central NSW area of Wellington was Aboriginal - Wiradjuri - land. Following the arrival of white men, it became a penal settlement, mission station, gold-mining town and farming centre with a history of white comfort and black marginalisation. In the late 20th century, it was also the subject of the first post-Mabo Native Title claim, bringing new hope - and new controversy - to the area and its people.

Wiradjuri land is also where author Patti Miller was born and, mid-life, it begins to exert a compelling emotional pull, demanding her return. Post-children, having lived a dream life in Paris, it is hard for her to understand, or ignore, and so she is drawn into the story at the heart of Australian identity - who are we in relation to our beloved but stolen country?

Wellington and the Wiradjuri people are the main characters - and in revealing their complex narratives, Patti uncovers her own. Are her connections to this place through her convict forefathers, or through another, secret history? She sets out on a journey of exploration and takes us with her. Black and white politics, the processes of colonisation, family mythologies, generational conflict and the power of place are evoked as Patti weaves a story that is very personal and, at the same time, a universal story of country and belonging.

The Mind of a Thief is about identity, history, place and belonging and, perhaps most of all, about how we create ourselves through our stories.' Source: http://uqp.com.au/ (Sighted 03/04/2012).

2013 winner New South Wales Premier's History Prize New South Wales Community and Regional History Prize
2013 shortlisted Western Australian Premier's Book Awards Non-fiction
2013 longlisted Kibble Literary Awards Nita Kibble Literary Award
2013 longlisted The Stella Prize
Last amended 12 Sep 2013 21:36:55
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