From a poem by Mirabai, as translated by Robert Bly (from MIRABAI VERSIONS, published in 1984 by Miller’s Red Ozier Press, New York, NY:

“I have felt the swaying of the elephant's shoulders;
          and now you want me to climb
          on a jackass? Try to be serious.”

Steve Miller is a Professor in the School of Library and Information Studies, The University of Alabama, and Coordinator of the MFA in the Book Arts Program. He came to The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa in 1988, where he is Professor and teaches letterpress printing and hand papermaking in the MFA in the Book Arts Program, and is Coordinator of the program. Miller was awarded the Distinguished Career Award from the College Book Art Association in 2012.

Miller founded Red Ozier Press in 1976 — a fine press devoted to publishing literary first editions in handmade limited editions. In 1979, Miller moved the Press to New York City where he and Ken Botnick refined bookmaking to an art. The books have been widely exhibited and reviewed, and are in the collections of many libraries and private collections. In 1988, The New York Public Library purchased the entire archive of the Red Ozier Press for its permanent collection.

 Steve Miller’s Red Hydra Press works are sized to read and read often, and mean to share the maker's passion for each text. The collaboration between letterpress printer, author, and artist is key to each limited edition handmade book. The pieces are lively material manifestations of the text, and the accompanying art stands on its own. Contemporary poets are often presented bilingually and dynamically in English and Spanish.

Red Hydra books are currently traveling in an exhibition, Tradition/Innovation: American Masterpieces of Southern Craft & Traditional Art, a celebration of thirty master craftspeople and traditional artists in the South. Recent work includes There Are Things Too Marvelous To Be Spoken Of. A miniature book (2” x 3”) letterpress-printed with multiple reduction linoleum cuts, in an edition limited to 28 copies. This reflection on the April 27th tornado was created during the invited Artist Educator Retreat, September 17-23, 2011, Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC. And Tornado Leaf. A portfolio project limited edition print, 10" x 10". Fifty copies designed and letterpress-printed type with a two-color photopolymer plate print. The edition was created for The Art Collaborative: Messages Lost in Time, October 2011.