About Simon Miles

Simon Miles was born in Birmingham in 1956. He was a larger-than-life character, extremely well read and completely dedicated to his poetry. He died in 2005 at the early age of 48, leaving behind a huge body of work in an eclectic mix of styles, most of which is unpublished.

Simon’s school days were spent in Retford, Nottinghamshire. He went on to study English and drama at Bretton Hall College in Yorkshire. He lived in Nottingham until 1996 when he moved to Bath, where he remained.

Simon had a strong interest in mental health, which is the subject of ‘The Identity Parade‘. The novel draws heavily on his own experience of mental health problems during his adult years. He wrote and lectured on mental health issues as an ‘expert by experience’ and worked in numerous mental health environments. For seven years he taught a creative writing class at Rampton special hospital, Nottinghamshire. Subsequently he took a post-graduate certificate in counseling and served in a voluntary capacity as an advocate at Bath MIND Advocacy Service.

Simon’s poetry was first published in 1981. In 1988 he won the Grand Prize in the original poems section of the Ecstasy Competition of the Yeats Club of Oxford. His winning poem, ‘The Endless Column‘. was a poetic appraisal of the sculpture of the same name by the Romanian, Constantin Brancusi. In appreciation he was invited in 1995 to read at the Culture House in Tîrgu Neamt, Romania.

Starting in 1986 he initiated and ran various writers’ groups including the Bath Writers’ Workshop, which was formed in 1998. In 2005 Simon was awarded posthumously honorary status as a ‘Bard of Bath’ in recognition of his poetic achievements and the encouragement he gave to others through writers’ workshops and his own commitment to creative writing.

His collection ‘Reasons Why’ appeared in 1990 (Dragonheart Press). A second collection, ‘Signature of Kisses’ was published posthumously by Awen Publications in 2008.