Whitney Terrell

Whitney Terrell was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and attended high school at The Pembroke Hill School, where he was captain of the soccer team and lead guitarist of a band called The Caste. He earned a bachelor's degree in English literature from Princeton University in 1991.{{cite web|url=https://paw.princeton.edu/issues/2009/02/11/pages/1771/index.xml|publisher=paw.princeton.edu|title=Embedded at Princeton | Princeton Alumni Weekly|date=21 January 2016 |accessdate=11 November 2016}} In 1992, Terrell moved to Iowa City, where he completed his MFA at the Iowa Writers' Workshop. During his time at the University of Iowa, Terrell studied with James Alan McPherson who sparked his interest in writing about race in Kansas City, which is the focus of Terrell's first two novels.[http://www.news-releases.uiowa.edu/2001/september/0906terrell.html The University of Iowa News Service] Released 7 September 2001.

Terrell lives in Kansas City, Missouri, with his wife and two children. He has taught at The University of Missouri–Kansas City since 2004.

After earning his master's degree, Terrell worked as a fact checker for The New York Observer. From 1996 to 2001, Terrell taught at Rockhurst University in Kansas City and became the Writer in Residence from 2000 to 2003.[https://www.rockhurst.edu/media/filer_private/2012/01/06/spring02b.pdf The Magazine of Rockhurst University]. Published Spring 2002.

His first novel, The Huntsman, was published in 2001. The novel centers on a young African American who elbows his way into Kansas City's white, upper-class society while searching for answers about his family's past. The New York Times chose it as a notable book and The Kansas City Star and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch selected it as a best book of 2001.Rocky Mountain News. Mary J. Elkins. 26 August 2015

In 2005, Terrell published his second novel, The King of Kings County. This book elaborated on the relationship between real estate and race in Kansas City, tracing the life of an ambitious developer who uses racial covenants to build a segregated suburban empire. The book won the William Rockhill NelsonThe Kansas City Star. 1 April 2007. award and was named a best book of 2005 by The Christian Science Monitor.The Christian Science Monitor. Yvonne Zipp. 9 September 2005.

In 2006, Terrell was named to a list of best writers under 40 by a panel of National Book Critics Circle Award members.Up and Comers: The Young Turks with a Pen. Publishers Weekly. 1 June 2006.

In 2006 and 2010, Terrell embedded with the U.S. Army in Iraq.[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101340428 National Public Radio]. Broadcast 12 May 2008. He covered the war for The Washington Post Magazine, Slate and NPR.

Terrell was the Hodder Fellow at Princeton University for 2008–2009 and a visiting lecturer in 2011.[http://arts.princeton.edu/fellowships/hodder-fellowship/ The Hodder Fellowship] Princeton University. Retrieved 25 June 2015. He was the New Letters Writer-in-Residence at the University of Missouri-Kansas City from 2004 to 2014.[http://www.kclibrary.org/blog/kc-unbound/writer-home-whitney-terrell A Writer at Home: Whitney Terrell]. The Kansas City Public Library. 2 April 2012. In 2014, he became an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at UMKC.[http://cas.umkc.edu/english/our-department/profiles/terrellprofile.asp UMKC English Department] Retrieved 30 June 2015. In 2018, he was promoted to Associate Professor of Creative Writing at UMKC.{{Cite web|title=Whitney Terrell {{!}} Arts and Sciences {{!}} University of Missouri - Kansas City|url=https://cas.umkc.edu/profiles/english/whitney-terrell.html|access-date=2022-02-11|website=cas.umkc.edu}}

Terrell's third book, The Good Lieutenant: A Novel, was published in June 2016 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. The novel is told in reverse order, following Lieutenant Emma Fowler as she leads a platoon of male soldiers through tragedy and suspicious circumstances during America's war in Iraq. The Boston Globe and The Washington Post selected the novel as a best book of 2016.{{Cite web|title=Whitney Terrell {{!}} Arts and Sciences {{!}} University of Missouri - Kansas City|url=https://cas.umkc.edu/profiles/english/whitney-terrell.html|access-date=2022-02-11|website=cas.umkc.edu}}

Since 2017, he has co-hosted the Fiction/Non/Fiction podcast with novelist V.V. Ganeshananthan.{{Cite web|title=Home|url=https://www.fnfpodcast.net/|access-date=2022-02-11|website=Fnfpodcast|language=en}} The podcast is presented by Literary Hub and covers the intersection of literature and the news.{{Cite web|title=Fiction/Non/Fiction – Literary Hub|url=https://lithub.com/category/lithubradio/fiction-non-fiction-lithubradio/|access-date=2022-02-11|website=Literary Hub|language=en-US}}

• The Good Lieutenant: A Novel, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, June 2016 {{ISBN|0374164738}}
• The King of Kings County, Viking Penguin, August 2005 {{ISBN|0670034258}}
• The Huntsman, Viking Penguin, August 2001 {{ISBN|0670894656}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://jasonfharper.com/2012/04/04/a-writers-room-whitney-terrell/ A Writer's Room: Whitney Terrell], Jason F. Harper, April 4, 2012.
• [http://www.pitch.com/kansascity/best-correspondent/BestOf?oid=2211843 Best Correspondent: Whitney Terrell] The Pitch Magazine, 2008.
• [https://paw.princeton.edu/issues/2009/02/11/pages/1771/index.xml Embedded at Princeton] Princeton Alumni Weekly, Princeton University, February 11, 2009.
• [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14562797 Kansas City Inspires a Hometown Writer] National Public Radio, September 20, 2007.
• [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101340428 Redux: Whitney Terrell and Nate Rawlings] National Public Radio, March 2, 2009.
• [http://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/books/article33692082.html Readorama: KC Author Whitney Terrell Talks Segregation, Race Relations at Central Library] The Kansas City Star, September 5, 2015.
• [http://www.kansascity.com/latest-news/article295418/They-worked-here.html They Worked Here] The Kansas City Star, September 18, 2005.
• [http://www.kclibrary.org/blog/kc-unbound/2012-publitzer-prize-whitney-terrell-trumpets-eugenides The 2012 Publitzer Prize: Whitney Terrell Trumpets Eugenides] Kansas City Public Library, April 25, 2012.
• [http://www.pittstate.edu/news/visiting-writers-series-brings-author-whitney-terrell-to-psu Visiting Writers Series brings author Whitney Terrell to PSU], Pittsburg State University, November 21, 2013.
• [http://www.penguin.com/author/whitney-terrell/246606 Whitney Terrell] Penguin Books USA.
• [http://www.whitneyterrell.com Author Website]
• [http://cas.umkc.edu/english/our-department/profiles/terrellprofile.asp Department of English] University of Missouri-Kansas City
• [https://news.yale.edu/2022/02/03/examining-roots-ukraine-crisis Examining the roots of the Ukraine Crisis] Yale News, February 3, 2022.
• [https://www.bookforum.com/papertrail/the-year-in-books-claire-messud-on-creative-nonfiction-24319?paged=1 This year in books; Claire Messud on creative nonfiction] Bookforum, December 31, 2020.
• [https://brendanomeara.com/tag/whitney-terrell/ Episode 237: A Fiction/Non/Fiction Festival with V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell] Home of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast
• [https://writingworkshops.com/blogs/news/13-of-the-best-podcasts-for-writers 13 of The Best Podcasts for Writers] Writing Workshops, 2021
• [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet-books/2020/05/john-freeman-and-tahmima-anam-visit-fiction-non-fiction-podcast John Freeman and Tahmima Anam Visit Fiction/Non/Fiction Podcast] Poetry Foundation, May 22, 2020
• [https://www.oklahoman.com/article/feed/6634735/idra-novey-and-esm-wang-talk-mental-health-and-writing Idra Novey and Esmé Wang Talk Mental Health and Writing] The Oklahoman, October 18, 2018
• [https://bellocollective.com/love-books-listen-up-6d85b1cda3dc Love Books? Listen Up.] Bello Collective, August 23, 2018

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Category:Living people

Category:1967 births

Category:Princeton University alumni

Category:University of Missouri–Kansas City faculty

Category:Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni

Category:Writers from Kansas City, Missouri

Category:Novelists from Missouri

Category:American male novelists

Category:21st-century American novelists

Category:21st-century American male writers

Category:Rockhurst University alumni

Category:Pembroke Hill School alumni