[bgsection pex_attr_title=”” pex_attr_subtitle=”” pex_attr_undefined=”undefined” pex_attr_style=”section-light2″ pex_attr_bgcolor=”F6F7F8″ pex_attr_image=”” pex_attr_imageopacity=”0.5″ pex_attr_bgimagestyle=”static” pex_attr_titlecolor=”#0a4958″ pex_attr_textcolor=”#0a4958″]Miriam Johnson BA, MA, MA, PhD (University of Edinburgh)
Originally from Alabama, I moved to the United Kingdom in 2006 and have been in higher education almost continually since. I received my undergraduate in English from Auburn University in Alabama, then moved to Loughborough to study for my MA in creative writing. From there, I did an MA in Publishing at Oxford Brookes, where I became interested in the ins and outs of publishing, especially the digital channels.
In 2007 I moved to London to live in a warehouse with friends while I traveled back and forth to Edinburgh for the first year of my PhD in Creative Writing. I moved up to Edinburgh in 2009 and slowly learned to love the city.
I worked for Edinburgh Books in my spare time and on weekends. Then I helped out at Scottish Book Trust for their yearly, national celebration of reading: Book Week Scotland. Since that first part time role, I have filled several positions in the organisation, from book distribution to handling their excellent Live Literature Funding programme, and online content co-ordinating for the Writer Development team.
In 2013 I took on a part time role for Scottish PEN and helped to organise a series of events linked to the Commonwealth Games 2014. In this project, we brought in commonwealth authors from around the world and paired them in unique locations with Scottish authors who had similar themes, ideas, works, etc. and held free events. I re-developed their website and I’m currently the Treasurer.
In 2012, Hande Zapsu Watt and I set up The Istanbul Review, a literary journal that is based both in Istanbul and Edinburgh. It is a collection of poetry, short stories, extracts, interviews, artworks and more that celebrates reading and writing on the international stage. 
The Istanbul Review renewed my interest in the world of publishing and now I am undertaking my second research degree: a doctorate in publishing at Oxford Brookes University. This website is a digital footprint of my research, and hopefully it will help others to get a better understanding of the slippery place where social media, publishing, subculture, media, and business converge.
Before moving to the UK and focussing on writing, academia, and publishing, I spent most of my life showing American Quarter Horses throughout the States. Now in any spare time I write for myself and play roller derby with the Auld Reekie Roller Girls.
You can find me on Twitter, Instagram, and at Booksaresocial on Findery.
I also fully believe in the Oxford Comma and am skeptical of those who don’t.
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