Terence Sellers

Who is Terence Sellers?

Terence Sellers is a New York-based writer deeply involved in the Downtown Arts Scene. Her papers have been collected by New York University's Fales Library Downtown Collection.

Terence Sellers was born in 1952 to Robert and Gloria Sellers in Washington, D.C.. From 1970-1973 she attended St. John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico in the Classical Studies department but did not complete her degree. She earned a BA in forensic psychology at John Jay College in New York City in 1986.

In 1973 Sellers moved to New York City intending to pursue a career in writing and dance. Shortly after moving to New York she formed friendships with artists and writers including Anya Phillips, Kathy Acker, Duncan Smith, Victor Bockris, Carl Apfelschnitt, Jimmy De Sana and Duncan Hannah, many of which resulted in collaborations. For example, Sellers and Hannah worked on several projects together, including Amos Poe's 1978 film The Foreigner. Around the same time Sellers worked with photographer Jimmy De Sana on a series of 32 photographs entitled "The Dungeon Series". The original intent of the project was to use the photographs in Sellers' then unpublished work The Correct Sadist. However, after the work was complete De Sana and William S. Burroughs used the photographs to illustrate their own book project, Submission.