Anna Holloway: Don't Forget to Wave

Anna Holloway spent her teaching and administrative career of forty-six years all at one HBCU (historically black college and university). I have written about my experience, especially the early part, and I’m still in the process of learning more about black people’s experiences. Originally from the Midwest and now in the South and the mother of two interracial sons, Anna writes about her life-changing experiences as a white instructor at a black college during the time of the Vietnam War, voting reforms, and public-school integration. 

Tell us a bit about your most recent work.

Be Sure to Wave: An Interracial Family in Rural Georgia takes place 1978-92 in very rural Macon County. We experienced a gunshot in our house and a local church reacting against our three-year-old son's attending Sunday school, and we were even touched by the KKK, it appeared. But we came to like most of our neighbors, our two sons loved being in the country, and we lived seeing the wildlife. We did work and took the boys to school in Fort Valley.

What are the themes and subjects you tend to revisit in your work?

In my memoirs and many of my poems so far, I reflect on real-life differences between being a Southerner and being a Midwesterner, and this is through my lens of coming from the Midwest in 1968 to teach at Fort Valley State, where I spent my career of 46 years.

What happened in your life that prompted you to become a writer?

I wrote stories as a child and mainly poems as an adult, and was fortunate to meet talented writers in middle Georgia who helped me develop my craft.

What inspires you to write? 

I want to share my unique experiences and give recognition to those I have known along the way

If you had any former project to do over to make it better, which one would it be, and what would you do?

I wrote a romance-mystery set in Minnesota in 1948. I wrote it around 1980. I .might try to bring more realism into it.

What writers have influenced your style and technique?

Stephen King, On Writing; John Gardner, William Zinsser, Ann Lamott.

Where would you rank writing on the "Is it an art or is it a science continuum?" Why?

Generally, I perceive fiction, memoirs, drama, poetry, and some essays as art. Vision, emotion, and a worldview must be expressed and created. Non-fiction varies depending on the approach and the subject matter.

What is the most difficult part of your artistic process? 

Going back and adding scenes and concrete details. Eliminating wordiness takes work for me.

How do your writer friends help you become a better writer? Or do they not? 

Many writer friends offer support,  critiques, and encouragement.  I am in a writer's group that helps me be accountable. 

What does literary success look like to you?

I would like to be known as having well-written, valuable, and honest work.

Any other upcoming projects you would like to plug?  

I am working hard on a fictionalized biography of my Swedish and vegetarian grandmother, who was raised in rural Minnesota and, with my grandfather, made her home in Minneapolis. 

For more information, visit :

Annahollowaywrites.com