When Josh Russell suggested that Dzanc take a peek at a colleague, John Holman's, story collection, we at Dzanc Books listened and were very happy that we did. His Triangle Ray, the second collection, and third book, he's published, was (and is) fantastic.
EWN: Your short story collection, Triangle Ray, was published in 2016. What story within the collection had the earliest publication history outside of being in the collection, and what was that history?
John: “Beauty” has the earliest history. It is the shortest story in the group. I wrote it for a feature in the Raleigh News and Observer when the paper offered a Sunday literary supplement. I was invited to submit a story. There was a word limit, I believe.
EWN: How did the publication of this particular collection come about? Were you solicited by the publisher, win a contest, agent submission, etc.?
John: I had published almost all of the stories in various periodicals. A colleague of mine who had published with Dzanc suggested I show the stories to that press. With my colleague’s introduction to the editors, I did, and they decided to publish the book.
EWN: Where do short stories fit within your life as an author? Primary form to work with, or something you write when an idea hits, or …?
John: Short fiction is my primary focus, although lately I have been writing them with attention to how they are or can be linked to form a novel-like structure.
EWN: Where do short stories fit within your life as a reader?
John: I read more short stories than I do novels. But I like both genres equally, I think. I am of fan of good fiction in any form. Short stories can offer a satisfaction that novels do not.
EWN: How will you be celebrating National Short Story Month this May?
John: I hope to be writing and reading them.
EWN: Thank you very much for your time!
John Holman is the author of Squabble and Other Stories and Luminous Mysteries, a novel. His fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Oxford American, Mississippi Review, Fiction, Terminus, and other journals. He graduated from North Carolina Central University with an M.A. and from the University of Southern Mississippi with a Ph.D. He is a professor of English and Creative Writing at Georgia State University at Atlanta and lives in Decatur, GA.
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