Terry Ann Thaxton is a fourth generation Floridian who spent most of her childhood roaming hundreds of acres of natural land surrounding her house. Much of the natural lands have since been bulldozed to make room for gated communities, and her childhood house is now a swanky restaurant. After graduating high school, she spent her twenties wondering why she wasn’t in college since, as a girl, other than the woods, school was her favorite place. She earned her BA in English, followed by an MA in English, and then went on to earn her MFA from Vermont College.

 

She is the author of Getaway Girl and The Terrible Wife, both from Salt. Her book Creative Writing in the Community: A Guide and Anthology, due out October 2013 from Bloomsbury, is a result of more than a decade of work,  training college students to provide creative writing opportunities to community members who might not have the means to attend fee-based classes. She and her students have worked with alternative populations throughout Florida, including homeless shelters, nursing homes, treatment facilities, public schools, prisons, and domestic violence shelters.

 

Her poetry and prose has been published in numerous journals such as Rattle, The Missouri Review, Connecticut Review, Comstock Review, Hayden’s Ferry, West Branch, Tampa Review, Cimarron Review, Main Street Rag, Cold Mountain Review, Teaching Artist Journal, Connotation Press Online Artifact, and others.

 

She is Associate Professor of English at the University of Central Florida, and lives in near Orlando with her husband, who is also a writer, and their dog, who loves to eat. She and the dog take daily hikes in the woods near their house.

 

 

 

Pre-Order a signed copy of Terry's new book The Terrible Wife, 15 February 2013 from Salt Publishing.