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Things I Have Withheld

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Things I Have Withheld

By: Kei Miller
Narrated by: Kei Miller
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SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE

In this astonishing collection of essays, the award-winning poet and novelist Kei Miller explores the silence in which so many important things are kept. He examines the experience of discrimination through this silence and what it means to breach it: to risk words, to risk truths. And he considers the histories our bodies inherit – the crimes that haunt them, and how meaning can shift as we move throughout the world, variously assuming privilege or victimhood.

Through letters to James Baldwin, encounters with Liam Neeson, Soca, Carnival, family secrets, love affairs, white women’s tears, questions of aesthetics and more, Miller powerfully and imaginatively recounts everyday acts of racism and prejudice.

With both the epigrammatic concision and conversational cadence of his poetry and novels, Things I Have Withheld is a great artistic achievement: a work of beauty which challenges us to interrogate what seems unsayable and why – our actions, defence mechanisms, imaginations and interactions – and those of the world around us.

 Literary History & Criticism Social Sciences
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The Pride List of Queer Storytelling

To mark Pride 2023 Audible teamed up with non-profit organisation, Out on the Page, supporter and champion of LGBTQIA+ writers and writing, to release an extensive Pride List of Queer Storytelling. Featuring contributions from some of the UK’s most important and exciting voices from the LGBTQIA+ community, this audiobook is one of the many featured on the list that is available to listen to on Audible.
Explore the list

Critic reviews

"Captivatingly elegant . . . It has a powerfully gripping intensity . . . An outstanding effort at tackling experiences we would rather not confront. The emotional pitch is well attuned, the words judiciously chosen. Baldwin would be proud"
"A wonderfully challenging book that I will dip in and out of for years to come. Through brilliant storytelling it explores issues of gender, queerness, race and class. Miller’s insights and his grace are hard won. As always, this Jamaican rock-star poet’s writing is lyrical, original and engaging. I left it challenged but tanked up with a new vocabulary and an understanding of the extent to which so much is inscribed on the body" (INGRID PERSAUD)
"With searing honesty, Miller carries the reader with him through this challenging, insightful book thanks to the lyrical power of his storytelling"
"A subtle, intimate yet hard-hitting investigation of – ostensibly – racism, class prejudice and homophobia . . . it doesn’t so much tackle as tease out – caress, even – the subject of things that are difficult to talk about"
"Invaluable . . . an astounding collection, where Miller circles the question of how to put words to what is often silenced . . . In a lyrical, effortless style, Miller traverses questions of class and race, and how love, privilege and community exist within them"
"The powerful essays include [Miller's] own letters to the late American novelist James Baldwin and his reflections on the permanence of racism. He writes movingly"
"

Miller promises a lyrical collection of essays . . . Drawing on his travels across the US, the UK, Jamaica
and other places, Miller’s essays say something about the ways in which meaning, as well as our own positionality, can shift as we travel through the world and encounter systemic violence . . . Both Miller and Baldwin are known to be devastatingly concise and honest in their observations concerning race and racism

"
"Miller's storytelling is impeccable, and his verse is arresting and beautiful. Things I Have Withheld is a remarkable contribution to literature" (DE'SHAWN WINSLOW)
"Perfectly encapsulates what it means to live in today’s world as "the other" . . . Miller is a gifted writer; his silences furthering his craft as much as his words . . . Miller’s writing is courageous and expansive. It seeks to educate its readers about inherent racism and racial bias and does so by tackling nuances head on"
"Searing . . . entrancing . . . Miller brings into devastating clarity the dangers confronting Black people in visualising the final moments of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. Sharp as blades, Miller’s words cut to the core"
All stars
Most relevant
Read from the heart in shuttering authenticity
A great audio book to listen to from beginning to end in one go

A deeply moving book

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Kei Miller reads the book with such heart and authenticity it's hard to switch off. A meditation on nuance, humanity and ultimately truth. I would recommend this book over and over again.

One of the best books audible has to offer

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Wow!
This is the most powerful book I've read this year and perhaps in my lifetime. This is what they mean when they say words have power. Kei is so talented, I am astound at how rich and beautiful his voice is, his accents are all so accurate and draws you in. I listened to this in one day. This is such a clever, heart warming, heartbreaking book. This is a book you must read or listen to several times to truly soak it all in. Stunning, inspiring!!

Most power read of 2023

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