You Should Write a Book!

Carolyn Banks, Instructor

Author Carolyn Banks will guide students to complete a short story or a section of a novel or memoir in this three day workshop. Carolyn has written ten novels and many short stories. Her latest novel is a farce entitled “The Importance of Being Erica,” featuring the long-dead British wit, Oscar Wilde, as a character. Students should bring a laptop or a notebook because there will be in-class writing, as well as instructor and peer discussion that is constructive and supportive.

Refunds and Credits are issued only for class cancellations and postponements.

Carolyn’s Story

Carolyn Banks has written everything from novels to newspaper articles.  Her first national publication was her short story “Idyll,” which appeared in Voyages, a literary magazine, in 1968, alongside the work of Anaïs Nin, Josephine Miles and Theodore Weiss. In 1972, the oft reprinted “Growing Up Polish in Pittsburgh” appeared in American Mix (Lippincott). A version of this story appeared as “The Virgin of Polish Hill” in Plume’s 1992 Catholic Girls. Her stories appeared in several issues of Yellow Silk.   Her first novel, Mr. Right (Viking), appeared in 1979. Cosmopolitan called the novel “…a triumph of erotic and witty narrative tension with an impact as startling as it is satisfying.” The book was reprinted by The Permanent Press in 1999.Mr. Right was followed by The Darkroom (Viking, 1980), The Girls on the Row (Crown, 1983) and Patchwork (Crown, 1986).Her short stories continued to appear in anthologies, notably Michele Slung’s I Shudder at Your Touch (HarperCollins, 1992) and Slow Hand (HarperCollins).

In the 1990s Banks wrote a series of comic mysteries set in the equestrian world of dressage, a competitive sport that Banks herself practiced. These novels, originally published by Fawcett and reprinted by Amber Quill Press include Death by Dressage, Groomed for Death, Death on the Diagonal, Murder Well Bred and A Horse to Die For. In 2023, these five mysteries were reissued by Sapere Books in England.

In 2007, Amber Quill also reprinted a 1995 literary novel Banks wrote entitled The Turtle’s Voice. The novel won the 1995 Austin Book Award.

Banks is listed in Contemporary Authors, Vol. 105 and is a member of Author’s Guild and the Texas Institute of Letters.

In 2001Banks started writing scripts and producing short movies including “Dead On” and “Bastrop: The First 175 Years,” which won Best Documentary at a 2007 South Texas film festival.