Patrick Holland grew up in outback Queensland, Australia, where he worked as a horseman before moving to Brisbane. He has worked and studied in China and Vietnam and is the author of the travel book Riding the Trains in Japan: Travels in the Sacred and Supermodern East (Transit Lounge); the Saigon-based novel The Darkest Little Room (Transit Lounge); The Source of the Sound (Salt), a collection of stories that won the Scott Prize and was shortlisted for the Steele Rudd Award; and the novel The Mary Smokes Boys, which was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and shortlisted for The Age Book of the Year.
Biography
Titles
The Mary Smokes Boys
- fiction
The Mary Smokes Boys is a gem. The writing is absolutely terrific and the characters distinct and deftly revealed. This story is a heart wrecker.
- Barry Lopez
- Winner of the American Book Award
Grey’s mother dies giving birth to his sister, Irene, and he prays that she will be returned to him so he might protect her from the world as his father did not. This prayer, Grey believes, is answered in his sister. He becomes obsessed with protecting her purity and innocence while befriending...Forward
Readings and events
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News
Powell’s Books Author Archive: Patrick Holland, “Silent Plains”
There are seven stories I read at least once a year, for pleasure and in the same very rational spirit that infertile males of certain old (and new) world tribes have eaten rhinoceros horns and tiger...Forward
Real Books: Representations of Autism in Contemporary Literature (Part Three), by Liz Barrett
This week I review Poe Ballantine’s memoir Love & Terror On The Howling Plains Of Nowhere (Hawthorne Books, 2013). It is the final post in a series discussing representations of autism in...Forward
Patrick Holland, author of The Mary Smokes Boys interviewed by Matt Dwyer, host of Feral Audio
Critically acclaimed Australian Patrick Holland visits the U.S. for the first time to promote his novel, The Mary Smokes Boys. Mr. Holland joins Dwyer to discuss life in rural Australia, the vibrance...Forward
The Portland Mercury‘s Alison Hallett on Hawthorne Books
PORTLAND’S Hawthorne Books has been quietly exercising great taste for years now, publishing authors like Monica Drake, Tom Spanbauer, and Poe Ballantine. In addition to their oversized format and...Forward
On the Hawthorne Books Blog
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Elsewhere