"What a gift to work with such good writing, and her work is so dramatic," says Robin Miles of Jamaican author Edwidge Danticat. Robin has recorded four of Danticat's works—THE DEW BREAKER; BREATH, EYES, MEMORY; KRIK? KRAK!, and most recently BROTHER, I'M DYING. "The structure is so nonlinear and the characters are all affected by the main character." The Yale Drama School-trained actress loves to bring out the nuances of the characters' speech, age, and culture. Danticat and Miles are a perfect match.

Robin's audiobook narration began in 1994 at AFB's Talking Books studios, where she recorded dozens of books in a wide variety of genres and writing styles. However, her "training" as a voice artist probably started years before in the New Jersey neighborhood of many cultures where she grew up. "First-generation immigrants, Jewish, Irish, Cuban, Egyptian, Italian, German, and Vietnamese families, were all around us," she remembers. "I enjoyed hanging out with the adults, and I spent time in their homes, listening to their accents, enjoying their cooking, and hearing a music in their talk." This early fascination with words and the language led Robin to become a master of a United Nations of dialects. She can bring on the usual array of international accents, but also Xhosa, the Zulu click language, Afrikaans, and various regional speech patterns from Asia. When Robin talks about her facility with dialects, she uses the analogy of a player piano. "You have to give yourself over and let the music of the words play through you." Robin gives listening as one of the great rewards of audiobooks—the musicality of accented speech. We hear her skill not only with the Danticat recordings, but also with CANE RIVER by Lalita Tademy, LADY MOSES by Lucinda Roy, THE GOOD HOUSE by Tananarive Due, and TWELVE TIMES BLESSED by Jacqueline Mitchard.

The best news for listeners is that Robin shares her love and skill with language—not just with her audience, but by training students in audiobook narration. She regularly gives seminars to members of SAG and AFTRA actors' unions, and in 2005 she started Narration Arts Workshop in New York City, offering classes and coaching. One class is called Audiobook Express, "a fast-paced jump-start to the audiobook world" for working actors. Master classes, a beginners' class, and private coaching are also among the offerings at Narration Arts. Robin also extends her gifts with recent directing projects that have already earned accolades—including Roots by Alex Haley, HOLLYWOOD STATION by Joseph Wambaugh, THE NIGHT GARDENER by George Pelecanos, and A FREE LIFE by Ha Jin. She also directs Live Oak Media's Dear America children's series. Robin takes on many technical and artistic challenges from both sides of the glass.—Robin F. Whitten

Robin Miles