Terence Sellers [Edit]

Terence Sellers (1952–2016) was an American writer and dominatrix.

Most of Sellers’ writing is on the subject of sadomasochism (meaning sadism and masochism). Her work as a professional dominatrix and her fascination with violence, self-punishment, the occult, and psychoanalysis shaped much of her writing, and her literary influences include Baudelaire, Dostoevsky, and the French surrealists.

Sellers’ novel The Correct Sadist: The Memoirs of Angel Stern is written as a collection of short “case studies” relating to themes of sexual dominance and submission, bondage and discipline, and fetishism. Originally published by iKoo-Buchverlg in Berlin in 1981 as Der korrekte Sadismus, Sellers self-published the work in English under Vitriol Publications in 1983. In 1985, Grove Press contracted the novel and Barney Rosset handled its publication. It is also published in France, Italy, and the United Kingdom.

Sellers worked with photographer Jimmy De Sana on a series of 32 BDSM-related photographs entitled “The Dungeon Series”, the original intent of which was to use the photographs in Sellers’ then unpublished work The Correct Sadist.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.

Sellers’ other published novels include The Obsession, and Dungeon Evidence: The Correct Sadist II. Excerpts from other manuscripts such as The Degenerate, Most Ill of All and One Decadent Life have appeared in publications in several languages. Sellers participated in events such as The Times Square Show (1980) and read her work throughout the US, Europe, and Canada.

 

 

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