We’re starting to think that Noah Miller’s glasses are made of more than metal and refracted glass. Whether he is creating a stop-animation short of himself playing “The Flight of the Bumblebee,” designing a Gold Key winning video game, or capturing his urban neighborhood in a poem titled “Manhappenstance,” Noah has a singular way of seeing the world—and sharing it with us.

Miller, a 16-year-old rising junior and 2012 ASAP Award winner, attended the Juniper Institute for Young Writers at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst this summer. This weeklong workshop is nothing if not intense—and Noah made the most of it.

“Classes were free-form and productive,” he says. In a memorable one, he recalls: “We talked about Chinese ideas, about the interaction between nouns and verbs, and how you define words in more evocative ways.” Not only did he write, write, write, but he also deeply enjoyed the “high-quality” nightly readings by faculty and award-winning visiting writers including short story writer Amy Hempel, poet and memoirist Mark Doty, and poet Matthew Zapruder.

“I was really surprised and thrilled to meet, make friends, and work with other students who were also passionate about writing and gave it as much attention as I do,” says Noah. “It definitely helped me grow.” Managing Director Betsy Wheeler concurs.

“Noah’s work here seemed to stretch the boundaries of his usual “modes,” she notes. Hence, for Noah, a poem transcended forms to become comic art. See what we mean?