 | | Terry Davis loves on dog friend Snickers at Loon Lake, near Spokane, Washington (July 2001). |
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Who is Terry Davis?
Author Terry Davis was born (in 1947) and raised in Spokane, Washington where his character and literary bent was shaped. The son of a housewife and a sales executive, Davis excelled at Shadle Park High School as a wrestler and basketball player, then went on to study English at Eastern Washington University where he met fellow student Chris Crutcher -- a year his senior.
Recognized early as a gifted writer, Davis went from Eastern to study under John Irving at the University of Iowa's Writers' Workshop, and later at Stanford University as an honored Wallace Stegner Literary Fellow. It was at Stanford that VISION QUEST took flight.
John Irving called VISION QUEST "the truest novel about growing up since 'The Catcher in the Rye.' " It was nominated for an American Book Award in 1981 (the American Book Awards were renamed the National Book Awards in 1987) and was named one of the Best of the Best YA novels by ALAN. Davis also wrote the YA classic IF ROCK AND ROLL WERE A MACHINE, soon to be reissued by Delacorte, and a third more experimental novel called MYSTERIOUS WAYS. His new anthology will be published in 2007 by acclaimed editor Deborah Brodie at Roaring Brook Press. And his short stories have recently been featured in RUSH HOUR, GUYS WRITE FOR GUYS READ and other literary publications.
Davis taught and coached wrestling at the high school level in Spokane, Washington and in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil before he went on to teach writing at East Carolina University. He currently teaches in the MFA program at Minnesota State University at Mankato. He is a powerful speaker and a craftsman who helped mentor Chris Crutcher, Terry Trueman, Alexandra LaFaye, Nick LaRusso and many other fine authors into the world of young adult literature.
www.ewu.edu www.uiowa.edu/~iww/
www.stanford.edu/dept/english/cw/fellowship
www.mankato.msus.edu/
Links About Davis
Out of the Pit
A moving feature about depression and Davis's successful battle to beat it, by Rachel Hanel, Free Press Staff Writer. Read the full text...
On the Question of Integrating
YA literature should be considered mainstream. An article by Terry Davis. The Alan Review
Davis's older website URL
YA "Grit" essay
Eliot Rosewater High School Awards
American Book Award Nominee
Email Davis with questions or speaker/interview requests at
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