{"id":353154,"date":"2026-06-28T01:41:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T01:41:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/353154\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T01:41:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T01:41:33","slug":"zell-miller-iii-shares-his-first-book-as-austins-indigenous-offspring-the-austin-chronicle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/353154\/","title":{"rendered":"Zell Miller III Shares His First Book as Austin\u2019s Indigenous Offspring \u2022 The Austin Chronicle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zell Miller III has his own lexicon. As with many poets, grammatical forms and capitalization rules get warped when Miller\u2019s words make their way onto the page. For his debut collection, Austin\u2019s inaugural poet laureate<\/a> further examined the way his influences and his experience as a performer shape his written words.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still so different for me because I\u2019m a performer first,\u201d the poet says. \u201cIt\u2019s a very different experience. I come from a theatre world. I\u2019m an interdisciplinary theatre artist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller\u2019s thought-provoking, rhythmic slam performances brought the theatre artist\u2019s work to audiences across the city, but working with editors on the pen-and-paper renditions of those poems, some nitty-gritty details had to be addressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cVerbally it sounds good to say: People want to know why Malcolm was looking out his window holding an AK,\u201d Miller says. His early editor, Mike Whalen<\/a>, though, pointed out a fact-checking error \u2013 \u201cactually, it was an M1.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat part of it was \u2013 I don\u2019t even want to say arduous, because Mike is such an open and amazing guy \u2013 it was just a little different.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt good to then go back and question things,\u201d says Miller, like whether the letter R he uses instead of the word \u201care\u201d is capitalized in his personal style and how readers should perceive the slashes he uses to punctuate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Austin\u2019s Indigenous Offspring \u2013 so named because, Miller says, \u201cI was raised here. I\u2019ve seen this city\u201d \u2013 bears the markings of one of the first plays the multidisciplinary writer bought, one that\u2019s profoundly influenced him since: Ntozake Shange\u2019s For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide \/ When the Rainbow Is Enuf. \u201cIt opened me up to how your words could live on a page in a theatre form,\u201d the poet says.<\/p>\n

Many years later, Miller hopes his own blended form of performance and writing will spark inspirational moments in his readers that he can\u2019t yet imagine.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a performer, especially a writer, that\u2019s what you\u2019re looking for,\u201d Miller says. \u201cYou\u2019re looking [to] give someone a different experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Where They Read: Austin Public Library \u2013 Central Location, Sixth Floor<\/p>\n

\u201cI had no clue that there was a sixth floor of the Austin Central Library until I became the poet laureate and got a tour,\u201d says Miller. The peaceful environment and city-meets-nature view has since made it his favorite spot.<\/p>\n

What to Read Next<\/p>\n

Embracing the performance of poetry, blended with noise music and experimental presentation, local writer Michael Perret\u2019s audio chapbook Still Life Eating Beauty<\/a> \u2013 recorded in collaboration with noise artist RM Davis \u2013 is a must-listen for boundary-pushing poetry lovers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Journalist\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tMonster of a Land searches for modern America\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Laekan\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tThe Chismosas Only Book Club captures kids\u2019 awkward years\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Summer\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tFive local authors share their fresh releases\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"What\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tA peek into the pages we\u2019re most excited about\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Amanda\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tArrivals and Departures is a secret beach read that\u2019ll keep you turning pages\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Motherhood,\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tMary Pauline Lowry\u2019s writes one for the lawn chair detectives\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

This article appears in June 26 \u2022 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A note to readers:\u00a0Bold and uncensored,\u00a0The Austin Chronicle\u00a0has been Austin\u2019s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community\u2019s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zell Miller III has his own lexicon. As with many poets, grammatical forms and capitalization rules get warped…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":353155,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,125722,125723],"class_list":["post-353154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-summer-reading-2026","tag-zell-miller-iii"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/353155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}