Terry Wolverton



Terry Wolverton (born 1954) is an American novelist, memoirist, poet, and editor. Her book Insurgent Muse: Life and art at the Woman’s Building, a memoir published in 2002 by City Lights Books, was named one of the “Best Books of 2002” by the Los Angeles Times, and was the winner of the 2003 Publishing Triangle Judy Grahn Award, and a finalist for the Lambda Book Award. Her novel-in-poems Embers was a finalist for the PEN USA Litfest Poetry Award and the Lambda Book Award.

Biography
Born August 23, 1954 in Cocoa Beach, Florida, Wolverton grew up in Detroit, Michigan. Her grandmother, Elsba Mae Miller, a former English teacher, would often read and recite poetry to her, and Wolverton credits this for inspiring her love of language. Even as a child Wolverton was interested in the arts, especially writing, music, and drama; she graduated from the Performing Arts curriculum of Cass Technical High School in 1972.

Terry Wolverton attended the University of Detroit as a student in its BFA Theatre Program. In 1973, she transferred to the University of Toronto, majoring in Theatre, Psychology, and Women's Studies.

Wolverton participated in Sagaris, an independent institute for the study of feminist political theory, in 1975. She next enrolled in Thomas Jefferson College, an experimental school based at Grand Valley State Colleges in Western Michigan, and participated in its feminist Women, World, and Wonder program.

Wolverton moved to Los Angeles in 1976, enrolling in the Feminist Studio Workshop at the Woman's Building. She spent the next thirteen years at the Woman's Building where, in addition to writing and performing, she was also instrumental in the Lesbian Art Project, the Incest Awareness Project, the Great American Lesbian Art Show (GALAS), and a White Women's Anti-Racism Consciousness-Raising Group. From 1987-88, she served as the nonprofit organization's Executive Director.

Wolverton has taught performance skills and creative writing since 1977. In 1986, she developed the Visions and Revisions Writing Program at Connexxus Women's Center/Centro de Mujeres. In 1988, she launched the Perspectives Writing Program at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, where she taught until 1997.

In 1997, Wolverton founded Writers at Work, a creative writing center where she continues to teach fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry, and to provide creative consultations to writers.

Since 2000, Terry has been a certified instructor of [kundalini] yoga. She lives in Los Angeles.

Poetry

 * Black Slip. 1993.
 * Mystery Bruise. 1999.
 * Embers: A novel in poetry. 2003.
 * Mischief, Caprice, and Other Poetic Strategies. 2004.
 * Shadow and Praise. 2007.

Fiction

 * Bailey’s Beads (novel). 1997.
 * The Labrys Reunion. 2009.

Non-fiction

 * Insurgent Muse: Life and Art at the Woman’s Building (2002)

Edited

 * Blood Whispers: L.A. Writers on AIDS (vol 1, 1991; vol 2, 1994)

Edited with Robert Drake

 * Indivisible: New Short Fiction by West Coast Gay and Lesbian Writers. 1991.
 * Hers: Brilliant New Fiction by Lesbian Writers. 1995.
 * His: Brilliant New Fiction by Gay Writers. 1995.
 * Hers 2 and His 2. 1997.
 * Hers 3 and His 3. 1999.
 * Circa 2000: Gay Fiction at the Millennium. 2000.
 * Circa 2000: Lesbian Fiction at the Millennium. 2000.

Other

 * "Introduction" to From Site to Vision: the Woman’s Building in Contemporary Culture (e-book). 2007.