Cary Holladay

Cary Holladay is an American writer and professor, best known for her historical short fiction. In 1999, her story "Merry-Go-Sorry" about the West Memphis Three murder case was selected by Stephen King for an O. Henry Award. She is the author of a novel, Mercury; a novella, A Fight in the Doctor's Office; and five collections of short fiction. She teaches in the MFA program at the University of Memphis with her husband, the poet John Bensko.
Originally from Virginia, Holladay graduated from the College of William and Mary with a B.A. and then went on to earn an M.A. in Fiction Writing from Pennsylvania State University. She currently teaches at the University of Memphis, where she has held honors including a First Tennessee Professor award.
Her stories have appeared in over sixty literary journals and anthologies, including New Stories from the South and The Oxford American.

• The Deer in the Mirror, Ohio State UP, 2013 (Winner of the 2012 Ohio State University Prize in Short Fiction)
• Horse People: Stories, Louisiana State UP, 2013
• A Fight in the Doctor’s Office, Miami UP, 2008 (Winner of the 2007 Miami University Press Novella Contest)
• The Quick-Change Artist: Stories, Swallow Press / Ohio UP, 2006
• Mercury, a novel, Shaye Areheart Books / Random House, 2002
• The Palace of Wasted Footsteps, U of Missouri Press, 1998
• The People Down South, U of Illinois Press, 1989