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Carolyn Banks (born February 9, 1941) is an American novelist, short-story writer, editor, and screen writer residing in Bastrop, Texas.

Her first national publication was her short story "Idyll," which appeared in Voyages, a literary magazine, in 1968, alongside the work of Anais Nin, Josephine Miles and Theodore Weiss. In 1972, the oft-reprinted "Growing Up Polish in Pittsburg" appeared in American Mix (Lippincott). A version of this story appeared as "The Virgin of Polish Hill" in Plume's 1992 Catholic Girls.

Her first novel, the ground-breaking 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 SECOND CHANCE 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 2007, Amber Quill also reprinted a 1995 literary novel Banks wrote entitled The Turtle's Voice. The novel was the winner of 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.

Involved in the local television access station in Bastrop, Texas, Banks has begun to write and produce short movies, including "Dead On" and "Bastrop: The First 175 Years," which won Best Documentary at a 2007 South Texas film festival.

Books
•Mr. Right

•The Darkroom

•The Girls on the Row

•Patchwork

•Death by Dressage

•Groomed for Death

•Death on the Diagonal

•Murder Well Bred

•A Horse to Die For

•The Turtle's Voice

•Tart Tales

Anthologies containing stories by Carolyn Banks
•Catholic Girls