Richard Terrill is an American author and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

musician who plays with the Larry McDonough Quartet.

Career

Terrill's work as a writer includes three collections of poems: ''What Falls Away Is Always: Poems and Conversations'', ''Almost Dark'' and ''Coming Late to Rachmaninoff,'' a winner of the

Minnesota Book Award The Minnesota Book Awards are presented annually for books created by writers, illustrators or book artists who are Minnesotans. The award, originally established in 1988, is organized by The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library. History ...

. He has also written two nonfiction books: ''Fakebook: Improvisations on a Journey Back to Jazz'' and ''Saturday Night in Baoding: A China Memoir'', winner of the Associated Writing Programs Award for nonfiction. Terrill has received fellowships from

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

, the

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

and

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

State Arts Boards, the Jerome Foundation, the

MacDowell Colony MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire, United States, founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDowel ...

, and the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. He has also worked as a Fulbright professor in China,

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. He formerly taught in the MFA program at

Minnesota State University, Mankato Minnesota State University, Mankato (MNSU, MSU, or Minnesota State) is a public university in Mankato, Minnesota, United States. It is Minnesota's second-largest university and has over 123,000 living alumni worldwide. Founded in 1868, it is ...

as a Distinguished faculty scholar. He retired in 2017. Terrill is also a jazz

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pro ...

, and much of his literary work centers on jazz as well. He plays with the Larry McDonough Quartet. Terrill was educated at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire where he played with

Lyle Mays Lyle David Mays (November 27, 1953 – February 10, 2020) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and member of the Pat Metheny Group. Metheny and Mays composed and arranged nearly all of the group's music, for which Mays won eleven Grammy Awa ...

, a member of the

Pat Metheny Group The Pat Metheny Group was an American jazz band founded in 1977. The core members of the group were guitarist, composer and bandleader Pat Metheny; and keyboardist and composer Lyle Mays, who was in the group at its inception. Other long-standi ...

Bibliography

Poetry

* ''What Falls Away Is Always: Poems and Conversations'', Holy Cow! Press, September 2020 * ''Almost Dark'', University of Tampa Press, April 2010 * ''Coming Late to Rachmaninoff'', University of Tampa Press, September 2003

Memoir

* ''Fakebook: Improvisations on a Journey Back to Jazz'', Limelight Editions, November 2000 * ''Saturday Night in Baoding: A China Memoir'',

University of Arkansas Press The University of Arkansas Press is a university press that is part of the University of Arkansas and has been a member of the Association of University Presses since 1984. Its mission is to publish peer-reviewed books and academic journals. It ...

, February 1990

References

External links

Richard Terrill
the author's website {{DEFAULTSORT:Terrill, Richard Living people American jazz musicians Writers from Minnesota Writers from Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire alumni Minnesota State University, Mankato faculty Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American poets University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire alumni