Terence Patrick Winch was born on November 1, 1945 in New York City to Patrick and Bridie (Flynn) Winch, who both emigrated from Ireland. He earned his Bachelor's degree from Iona College in 1967 and a Master's degree from Fordham University in 1969.

In the 1970s Winch worked for Dover Publications as a copywriter and Corcoran School of Art as an instructor and artist-in-residence. He published a number of poetry chapbooks, including Boning Up (1972), The Beautiful Indifference (1975), and The Attachment Sonnets (1978), and became part of a poetry movement called Mass Transit, through which he became acquainted with the actress Karen Allen, who was an inspiration for his short story "The Age of Transition". He also founded Some of Us Press with Michael Lally and others in 1971.

Winch performed in various bands, starting with The Fast Flying Vestibule, which released an album, Union Station, in 1976. He went on to form the traditional Irish band Celtic Thunder with his brother, Jesse Winch, in 1977. They recorded three albums together: Celtic Thunder (1981), The Light of Other Days (1989), and Hard New York Days (1995). Starting in 1998, Winch performed with Narrowbacks. He released a compilation album of his original compositions with Narrowbacks and Celtic Thunder, When New York Was Irish: Songs and Tunes by Terence Winch (2007), and one album with his brother, Jesse, and son, Michael, This Day Too: Music from Irish America (2017).

Winch worked for the Smithsonian Institution from 1985 to 2009, as head of the publications departments of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. While there, he produced more than 60 books. He also contributed regularly to various print and online publications, including Washington Post Book World, Washingtonian, and Best American Poetry Blog. In 2009 he served as the Poet-In-Residence for Howard County, Maryland, and for many years was a host on the Society's interview television series The Writing Life, during which he interviewed many Irish and Irish-American writers.

Winch published eight books of his own poetry, including Irish Musicians/American Friends (1985), The Great Indoors (1995), Boy Drinkers (2007), and This Way Out (2014), as well as one book of short stories, Contenders (1989), and a non-fiction story collection, That Special Place: New World Irish Stories (2004). He is the recipient of an American Book Award (1986), a Columbia Book Award (1995), National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship (1992), a Gertrude Stein Award for Innovative Writing, and five Maryland State Arts Council Grants.

Sources

"Terence Winch." In Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2002. (Accessed April 1, 2020). Gale Document Number: GALE|H1000107154.

Winch, Terence. Biography. http://www.terencewinch.com/bio.html

"Winch, Terence." Literature Online Biography, 2011 https://literature.proquest.com/searchFulltext.do?id=BIO003772&divLevel=0