Terry Wolverton (born August 23, 1954)

[reviews_and_ramblings]

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 Embers: A novel in poems was a finalist for the PEN USA Litfest Poetry Award and the Lambda Book Award.

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.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Wolverton


Terry Wolverton, 1989, by Robert Giard (http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/dl_crosscollex/brbldl_getrec.asp?fld=img&id=1125732)

American photographer Robert Giard is renowned for his portraits of American poets and writers; his particular focus was on gay and lesbian writers. Some of his photographs of the American gay and lesbian literary community appear in his groundbreaking book Particular Voices: Portraits of Gay and Lesbian Writers, published by MIT Press in 1997. Giard’s stated mission was to define the literary history and cultural identity of gays and lesbians for the mainstream of American society, which perceived them as disparate, marginal individuals possessing neither. In all, he photographed more than 600 writers. (http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/digitallibrary/giard.html)

Further Readings:

Stealing Angel by Terry Wolverton
Paperback: 264 pages
Publisher: Spinsters Ink; First Edition edition (August 16, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1935226452
ISBN-13: 978-1935226451
Amazon: Stealing Angel
Amazon Kindle: Stealing Angel

Maggie Seaver is attempting to make peace with losing custody of her daughter, Angel, in the wake of a break-up with the girl’s biological mother, Yoli. But when she receives evidence that Angel has been abused, Maggie kidnaps the child, drives across the border into Baja, and ends up in a spiritual commune outside the southern Baja town of Todos Santos.

During the long drive down the Baja penninsula, and especially during her sojourn in the spiritual community of the Light Beings, Maggie must contend not only with the fear of being apprehended by the police, but also question the degree to which her actions are fueled by concern for her daughter or by the desire for revenge against Yoli. The ailing spiritual leader of the community provides lessons in forgiveness and redemption that will affect a profound change in each of the characters.

More Particular Voices at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Particular Voices