Robin Miles is an American actress, casting director, audiobook narrator and audiobook director. Miles has acted in Broadway shows and on TV shows including Law & Order and Murder by Numbers. She is best known for her audiobook narrations and narration director work for which she has won numerous awards, including Audie Awards, AudioFile Golden Voice, and Earphone Awards. Miles is revered in her field and is credited as one of the audiobook narrators saving the publishing industry. In 2017, Miles was inducted into Audible's Narrator Hall of Fame. Miles also has a voice training school, VOXpertise, for aspiring narrators. She has narrated over 300 books. Miles specializes in recreating "accents and speech patterns from around the globe."
Biography Robin Miles grew up in New Jersey and credits her immigrant neighborhood for immersing her in a rich world of accents, languages and cultures which she has been able to draw on for her narration work. Miles started in musical theater, but transitioned to drama. Miles graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts in Theater Studies and she earned her Master of Fine Arts in Drama from Yale School of Drama.
After graduating and moving to New York City, Miles was looking for community service volunteer opportunities. She started book narration by volunteering to read for the American Foundation for the Blind and the National Library Service. When she started narration work, Miles was surprised by how ethnically segregated the work was:It was like, 'You do the black books, and you're Jewish, you do the Jewish books.' I was totally shocked," she says. "But, it's kind of morphed. It really started out with such a small pool of people, that the people they had did everything whether or not they could handle the accent and culture. And then, when a little more diversity came in, it was like, well nobody can do anything outside of their yard. And now, I think we're also beginning to hopefully, break through that again.Miles has narrated a wide range of genres including children's books, non-fiction, fantasy, horror, historical fiction, biography and other genres including the Young Reader's Edition of Kamala Harris's The Truths We Hold.
Reviews According to The New York Times, Miles "excels at technically perfect Standard American dialect but interjects just enough slightly sarcastic pauses and subtly acerbic inflections to emphasize the true meaning of the text."
According to AudioFile magazine, who reviewed The Vela, "The best way to tie together a space opera written alternately by four authors" is "choosing the capable Robin Miles to narrate" as "Miles creatively utilizes dialects to differentiate the denizens of several planets that revolve around a dying sun".
AudioFile also reviewed The Shadow King, writing, "Robin Miles gives a flawless emotional narration of this superb novel, set in Ethiopia in 1974 and in 1935, on the eve of Mussolini's invasion. Mengiste's beautiful writing already draws fully formed characters; Miles adds yet another dimension to their inner lives by slowing and quickening her voice strategically, adding suspense and fervor to their experiences, particularly those of the tormented protagonist." Also reviewing The Shadow King, The Times wrote, "The eloquence of Maaza Mengiste's tribute to the forgotten women warriors who defended Ethiopia from Mussolini's invasion in 1935 is unforgettably conveyed by the narrator Robin Miles, whose upbringing in the ethnic melting pot of New Jersey has enhanced her gift for entering into character."
Awards and honors In 2014, Booklist named Miles a Voice of Choice narrator. AudioFile magazine has also named Miles a Golden Voice narrator. In 2017, she was inducted into Audible's Narrator Hall of Fame.
Awards YearAudiobookAwardResultRef.2007Brother, I'm Dying (2007) by Edwidge DanticatPublishers Weekly Listen-Up Award for BiographySelection2010Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy SchiffPublishers Weekly Listen-Up Award for NonfictionWinner2011Here in Harlem: Poems in Many Voices by MyersAudie Award for Distinguished Achievement in ProductionWinner2013 by Delia ShermanAudie Award for Children's Titles for Ages 8-12Finalist2014Keeping Hope Alive by Dr. Hawa AbdiAudie Award for Faith-Based Fiction and NonfictionWinnerMETAtropolis: Green Space by Jay Lake, Elizabeth Bear, Karl Schroeder, Seanan McGuire, Tobias S. Buckell, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Ken ScholesAudie Award for Original WorkFinalist (2014) by Roxane GayPublishers Weekly Listen-Up Award for Narrator of the YearFinalist2015Prepared for a Purpose by Antoinette TuffAudie Award for Faith-Based Fiction and NonfictionFinalistRevolution by Deborah WilesAudie Award for Distinguished Achievement in ProductionFinalist2016 by N. K. JemisinAudie Award for FantasyFinalist201728: Moments in Black History that Changed the World by Charles R. Smith Jr.Audie Award for Young Listeners' TitleWinnerAnother Brooklyn (2016) by Jacqueline WoodsonAudie Award for Best Female NarratorFinalistAudie Award for Literary Fiction or ClassicsFinalistIn the Embers by Brian Price and Jerry StearnsAudie Award for Audio DramaWinnerAudie Award for Original WorkFinalist2018Difficult Women (2017) by Roxane GayAudie Award for Short Stories or CollectionsFinalistNew York 2140 by Kim Stanley RobinsonAudie Award for Excellence in ProductionFinalistAudie Award for Science FictionFinalist by Taylor Jenkins ReidAudie Award for Multi-Voiced PerformanceFinalist by N. K. JemisinAudie Award for Best Female NarratorFinalistAudie Award for Science FictionFinalist2019Any Man by Amber TamblynAudie Award for Multi-Voiced PerformanceFinalistBarracoon (2018) by Zora Neale Hurston with Deborah G. Plant (Ed.)Audie Award for Best Female NarratorFinalist2020Birthday Suit by Lauren BlakelyAudie Award for Audio DramaFinalistCharlotte's Web (1952) by E. B. WhiteAudie Award for Middle Grade TitleWinnerHave a Nice Day by Billy Crystal and Quinton PeeplesAudie Award for Audio DramaFinalistNew Kid (2019) by Jerry CraftAudie Award for Middle Grade TitleFinalist2021 by N. K. JemisinAudie Award for Best Female NarratorWinnerAudie Award for FantasyWinner2022Class Act by Jerry CraftAudie Award for Middle Grade TitleFinalist (2021) by Dawnie WaltonAudie Award for FictionWinnerFour Hundred Souls (2021) by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain (Eds.)Audie Award for Multi-Voiced PerformanceFinalist2024 by N. K. JemisinAudie Award for Science FictionFinalist
"Best of" lists YearAudiobookListRef.2008Brother, I'm Dying (2007) by Edwidge DanticatAudioFile Best of Biography & MemoirAudioFile Best of Fiction2011Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy SchiffAudioFile Best of Biography & Memoir2012Stealing FreedomAudioFile Best of Young Adult: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration (2010) by Isabel WilkersonAudioFile Best of History2013We Need New Names (2013) by NoViolet BulawayoAudioFile Best of Fiction2014Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane FranklinAudioFile Best of Biography & Memoir2015 (2015) by Naomi JacksonAudioFile Best of Fiction201628: Moments in Black History that Changed the World by Charles R. Smith Jr.AudioFile Best of ChildrenAnother Brooklyn (2016) by Jacqueline WoodsonAudioFile Best of FictionHidden Figures (2016) by Margot Lee ShetterlyAudioFile Best of Biography & Memoir (2016) by N. K. JemisinAudioFile Best of Science Fiction & Fantasy2017American StreetAudioFile Best of Young Adult (2017) by N. K. JemisinAudioFile Best of Science Fiction & Fantasy2018Barracoon (2018) by Zora Neale Hurston with Deborah G. Plant (Ed.)AudioFile Best of Biography & Memoir2020Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (2020) by Isabel WilkersonAudioFile Best of Nonfiction & CultureWhen Stars are Scattered (2020) by Victoria Jamieson and Omar MohamedAudioFile Best of Children2021Four Hundred Souls (2021) by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain (Eds.)AudioFile Best of History & BiographyJust As I Am (2020) by Cicely Tyson and Michelle BurfordAudioFile Best of Memoir
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