He is the author of
seventeen published books, including the 2014 release of Song of the Vagabond
Bird.
His other works include The Seventh Mirror, The Greats of
Cuttercane, Bogmeadow's Wish, The Book of Marie, To Dance With the White Dog,
The Valley of Light, Taking Lottie Home, The Kidnapping of Aaron Greene, Shadow
Song, The Runaway, Dark Thirty, After Eli, The Year the Lights Came On, To Whom
the Angel Spoke, as well as a book of essays, Special K: The Wisdom of Terry
Kay.
Three of his novels have been produced as Hallmark Hall of Fame movies –To Dance With the White Dog, The Runaway and The Valley of Light.
Additionally, a Japanese film based on To Dance With the White Dog was
produced. His books have been published in more than twenty foreign
languages, with To Dance With the White Dog selling two million copies in
Japan.
An essayist and regional Emmy-winning screenwriter as well
as a novelist, Kay's work has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies.
LaGrange College and Mercer University have recognized his
work with honorary doctorate degrees. Atlanta Writers Club named their annual fiction award the Terry Kay Prize for
Fiction, 2015.
In 2011, Kay was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award by
the Georgia Writers Association. He has received the Georgia Author of the Year
award four times and in 2004 was presented with the Townsend Prize, considered
the state's top literary award.
In 2006, Kay was inducted in Georgia Writers Hall of Fame, and
in 2009 he was the recipient of the Governor's Award in the Humanities (GA),
2009.
In 2007, Kay was presented the Stanley W. Lindberg
Award, named for the late editor of The Georgia Review and considered one of
the state's most prestigious literary honors, given for an individual's
significant contribution to the preservation and celebration of Georgia's
literary heritage.
Kay’s best-known book, To Dance With the White Dog, was made into an award-winning film. Of this book, Anne Rivers Siddons said, “(This) is what literature is – or should be – all about, and what the South at its best still is. Terry Kay is simply a miraculous writer, gifted with poetry, integrity and rare vision.”
A native of Hart County, GA, Kay and his wife now reside in
Athens, GA.
