Cathleen Miller
{{Short description|American writer}}
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|name = Cathleen Miller
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|nationality = American
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|known_for = Champion of Choice, Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey of a Desert Nomad
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|alma_mater = Pennsylvania State University
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|occupation = Author, travel writer, essayist, professor
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Cathleen Miller is an internationally best-selling American nonfiction writer based in California. Her 2013 book, Champion of Choice, is the biography of United Nations leader Nafis Sadik.[https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/cathleen-miller/champion-of-choice/ "Champion of Choice"]. Kirkus Reviews{{cite web|title=Champion of Choice: The Life and Legacy of Women's Advocate Nafis Sadik|url=http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/champion-choice-life-and-legacy-womens-advocate-nafis-sadik|journal=New York Journal of Books}}{{cite web|last1=Joan|first1=Erakit|title=BOOKS: The Legacy of Nafis Sadik, Champion of Choice|url=http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/03/books-the-legacy-of-nafis-sadik-champion-of-choice/|publisher=Inter Press Service|accessdate=21 October 2015}}{{cite web|last1=Singh|first1=Gary|title=Cathleen Miller: Champion of Choice|url=http://www.metroactive.com/features/columns/cathleen-miller-champion-of-choice.html|work=Metro Silicon Valley|accessdate=21 October 2015}}{{cite web|last1=Taylor|first1=Nick|title=Champion of Choice by Cathleen Miller|url=http://www.paloaltoonline.com/blogs/p/2014/01/01/champion-of-choice-a-new-biography-of-dr-nafis-sadik|work=Palo Alto Weekly|accessdate=21 October 2015}}
She is also the author of Desert Flower (1998),{{cite web|title='Desert Flower' Tells Story of Waris Dirie|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/movies/desert-flower-tells-story-of-waris-dirie-review.html?_r=0|work=The New York Times|accessdate=21 October 2015}}{{cite web|title=Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey of a Desert Nomad|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-688-15823-1|work=Publishers Weekly|accessdate=21 October 2015}} co-written with Waris Dirie—a Somali nomad turned model turned activist—who shared her experience with female genital mutilation to bring about global awareness.{{cite book|author=Richard Eldridge|title=The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tFJLSBEQ_HAC&pg=PA333|date=27 March 2009|publisher=Oxford University Press, USA|isbn=978-0-19-518263-7|pages=333–}}{{cite book|author1=David Jasper|author2=G. M. Newlands|author3=Darlene Bird|title=Believing in the Text: Essays from the Centre for the Study of Literature, Theology, and the Arts, University of Glasgow|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UtIwQ-WJdekC&pg=PA224|year=2004|publisher=Peter Lang|isbn=978-3-03910-076-7|pages=224–}} The book has been cited by the United Nations as having played a major role in the advocacy against female genital mutilation. Desert Flower was made into a feature film in 2009 and released in 34 countries. The print version sold over 11 million copies worldwide and has been translated into more than 55 languages.{{cite web|last1=Singh|first1=Gary|title=SJSU's Cathleen Miller helped create bestselling book, Desert Flower, now a major feature film|url=http://www.metroactive.com/features/columns/silicon-alleys_20110316.html|work=Metro Silicon Valley|accessdate=21 October 2015}}
Biography
Cathleen Miller was born in the United States but has traveled widely in pursuit of research, adventure, and experience. "She has interviewed diplomats and heads of state on five continents, patients in an Addis Ababa Hospital, rape camp survivors in Kosovo, and midwives in the mountains of East Timor. Her work sometimes places her in strange circumstances, for example cruising St. Petersburg in a Winnebago to interview prostitutes, and running down a Brazilian mountain at midnight fleeing bandits."
Miller earned her MFA in Creative Writing from Pennsylvania State University in 1997 and has been teaching Creative Writing at San Jose State University since 2004.{{cite web|title=Rolling Reading Series presents alumna and author Cathleen Miller|url=http://news.psu.edu/story/341493/2015/01/20/academics/rolling-reading-series-presents-alumna-and-author-cathleen-miller|work=Penn State News|accessdate=21 October 2015}}
Miller co-founded Wild Writing Women, a group of women writers who travel worldwide and come together to write their stories of adventure. She is also a member of the Bay Area Travel Writers organization. Her work has appeared in many magazines and newspapers in the United States, including the San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and Los Angeles Times.
Awards
- 2018 Fulbright Scholars’ Award, Distinguished Chair of the Humanities, University of Manchester, United Kingdom{{Cite web|url=http://blogs.sjsu.edu/newsroom/2018/president-papazians-april-blog/|title=President Papazian's April Blog|last=Papazian|first=Mary|date=April 25, 2018|website=President Papazian's Messages|access-date=}}
- 2017 Silicon Valley Creates Artist Laureate{{Cite web|url=https://www.svcreates.org/2017/04/12/2017-svlaureates-announcement/|title=2017 SVLaureates Announcement|last=|first=|date=April 12, 2017|website=SVCreates|access-date=}}
- 2013 Champion of Choice: Top Ten Biography of 2013 by the American Library Association{{Cite web|url=https://www.booklistonline.com/Top-10-Biographies-2013-Donna-Seaman/pid=6172328?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1|title=Top 10 Biographies: 2013|last=Seaman|first=Donna|date=June 1, 2013|website=Booklist Online|access-date=}}
- 2005 Lowell Thomas Gold Prize, Society of American Travel Writers, Best Online Travel Magazine (Editor-in-Chief){{cite web|last1=Holmes|first1=Charlotte|title=Mary E. Rolling Reading Series presents Cathleen Miller|url=http://english.la.psu.edu/events/mary-e.-rolling-reading-series-presents-cathleen-miller|website=Psu.edu|accessdate=21 October 2015}}
- 2005 North American Travel Journalists Association Award, Best Online Travel Magazine (Editor-in-Chief){{cite web|title=Wild Writing Women Win NATJA Award|url=http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/01/prweb199585.htm}}{{dead link|date=August 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
Bibliography
= Nonfiction =
- Champion of Choice: The Life and Legacy of Women's Advocate Nafis Sadik (March 2013){{cite web|last1=Beckel |first1=Rochelle |title=Cathy Miller profiles the work of women's rights advocate Nafis Sadik |url=http://spartandaily.com/103799/cathy-miller-profiles-the-work-of-womens-rights-advocate-nafis-sadik |work=The Spartan Daily |access-date=21 October 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140403093334/http://spartandaily.com/103799/cathy-miller-profiles-the-work-of-womens-rights-advocate-nafis-sadik |archive-date=April 3, 2014 }}
- The Birdhouse Chronicles: Surviving the Joys of Country Life (October 2004){{cite web|title=The Birdhouse Chronicles: Surviving the Joys of Country Life by Cathleen Miller|url=http://www.storycirclebookreviews.org/reviews/birdhouse.shtml|work=Story Circle Book Reviews|accessdate=21 October 2015}}
- Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey Of A Desert Nomad (August 1998)[http://www.revish.com/reviews/0688172377/rels/ Review of Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey Of A Desert Nomad by Waris Dirie, Cathleen Miller]
= Anthologies =
- Travelers’ Tales Best Travel Writing Volume 11 (November 2016)
- Travelers' Tales San Francisco: True Stories (November 2002)
- Wild Writing Women: Stories of World Travel (April 2002)
References
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Category:Writers from San Francisco
Category:Pennsylvania State University alumni
Category:American non-fiction writers
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)