B.J. Hollars, M.F.A.
Contact Information
Biography
B.J. Hollars is the author of several books, most recently Wisconsin for Kennedy: The Primary That Launched a President and Changed The Course of History, Year of Plenty: A Family's Season of Grief, Go West Young Man: A Father and Son Rediscover America on the Oregon Trail, Midwestern Strange: Hunting Monsters, Martians and the Weird in Flyover Country, The Road South: Personal Stories of the Freedom Riders, Flock Together: A Love Affair With Extinct Birds, From the Mouths of Dogs: What Our Pets Teach Us About Life, Death, and Being Human, as well as a collection of essays, This Is Only A Test. Additionally, he has also written Thirteen Loops: Race, Violence and the Last Lynching in America, Opening the Doors: The Desegregation of the University of Alabama and the Fight for Civil Rights in Tuscaloosa, Dispatches from the Drownings, and Sightings. He and his film partner, Steve Dayton, have also completed a documentary When Rubber Hit The Road. Hollars is the recipient of the Truman Capote Prize for Literary Nonfiction, the Anne B. and James B. McMillan Prize, the Council of Wisconsin Writers' Blei-Derleth Award, the Society of Midland Authors Award, and received a 2022 silver medal from the Midwest Book Awards. His work has been featured on C-SPAN, Lit Hub, Washington Post, The Millions, and Wisconsin Life.
Education
- M.F.A., The University of Alabama (Creative Writing)
- B.A., Knox College (English Literature and Education)
Teaching and Research Interests
- Creative writing
- Nonfiction
- Civil Rights
- Environment
- Memoir
- Documentary Film
- Local History
Published Research
- When Rubber Hit The Road (one-hour documentary co-directed with Steve Dayton)
- Year of Plenty: A Family's Season of Grief
- Wisconsin for Kennedy: The Primary That Launched a President and Changed the Course of History
- Hope Is The Thing: Wisconsinites on Perseverence in a Pandemic
- Go West Young Man: A Father and Son Rediscover America on the Oregon Trail
- Midwestern Strangers: Monsters, Martians and the Weird in Flyover County
- The Road South: Personal Stories of the Freedom Riders
- Flock Together: A Love Affair With Extinct Birds
- From the Mouths of Dogs: What Our Pets Teach Us About Life, Death, and Being Human
- Blurring the Boundaries: Explorations to the Fringes of Nonfiction
- This Is Only A Test
- Thirteen Loops: Race, Violence and the Last Lynching in America
- Opening the Doors: The Desegregation of the University of Alabama and the Fight for Civil Rights in Tuscaloosa
- Monsters: A Collection of Literary Sightings
- Dispatches from the Drownings: Reporting the Fiction of Nonfiction
- Sightings
- You Must Be This Tall To Ride: Contemporary Writers Take You Inside the Story
Honors And Recognition
Excellence in Mentoring Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity Award, ORSP, Finalist 2023
Midwest Book Awards’ Nonfiction Autobiography/Memoir category, silver medal, 2022
Midwest Artist Academy, Winner of the 2022 Wisconsin Art Education Association’s James A. Schwalbach Award
Wisconsin Newspaper Association's Best Local Column, First Place, February 2021
Recipient of UW-Eau Claire’s Excellence in Service Award, 2020
Wisconsin Newspaper Association's Best Local Column, Third Place, May 2020
Recipient of the 2018 Truman Capote Prize for Alabama's Distinguished Writer of Literary Non-Fiction or Short Stories, April 2019
Recipient of the 2017 Anne B. and James B. McMillan Prize in Southern History or Culture for The Road South.
Recipient of UW-Eau Claire’s Excellence in Scholarship Award, 2015
First Prize, Council for Wisconsin Writers’ Blei/Derleth Book-Length Nonfiction Award forOpening the Doors, 2014