Jason Van Hollander
Encyclopedia
Jason Van Hollander is an award-winning illustrator
, book designer and occasional author
. His stories and collaborations with Darrell Schweitzer
earned a World Fantasy Award
nomination. Van Hollander's fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Weird Tales
, Interzone
, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
, The New York Review of Science Fiction
and other publications.
Van Hollander has created morbid and grotesque artwork which adorns dust jackets of books published by Arkham House
, Golden Gryphon Press
, PS Publishing
, Subterranean Press
, Cemetery Dance Publications
, Tor Books
, Night Shade Books
and Ash-Tree Press. He has illustrated books and stories by Thomas Ligotti
, Joan Aiken
, Gregory Frost
, John Clute
, Gerald Kersh
, Fritz Leiber
, Matthew Hughes
, Ramsey Campbell
, William Hope Hodgson
, Clark Ashton Smith
and Matt Cardin. His media include ink and watercolor, which he has sometimes augmented on the computer.
He is listed in the 2009 edition of Science Fiction And Fantasy Artists Of The Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary edited by Robert Weinberg, Jane Frank. His essay "The Digital Moment: Digital Politics" was published in Paint or Pixel: The Digital Divide in Illustration Art edited by Jane Frank (Nonestop Press, 2007).
, Van Hollander attended the Philadelphia College of Art, where in 1971 he received his BA in graphic design. He has worked as an employed graphic designer in addition to his freelance art work. Circa 1979 he married Terry, a fellow artist and teacher.
for best artist, in 2000 and again in 2004, the second a shared win with Donato Giancola
. He was also nominated in 2000 in the award's Collection category for Necromancies and Netherworlds, co-written with Darrell Schweitzer.
He finally won the International Horror Guild Award
for Art in 2003, having been nominated both of the previous two years. In 2005 Van Hollander received an award recommendation from The British Fantasy Society
.
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
, book designer and occasional author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
. His stories and collaborations with Darrell Schweitzer
Darrell Schweitzer
Darrell Charles Schweitzer is an American writer, editor, and essayist in the field of speculative fiction. Much of his focus has been on dark fantasy and horror, although he does also work in science fiction and fantasy...
earned a World Fantasy Award
World Fantasy Award
The World Fantasy Awards are annual, international awards given to authors and artists who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in the field of fantasy...
nomination. Van Hollander's fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Weird Tales
Weird Tales
Weird Tales is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine first published in March 1923. It ceased its original run in September 1954, after 279 issues, but has since been revived. The magazine was set up in Chicago by J. C. Henneberger, an ex-journalist with a taste for the macabre....
, Interzone
Interzone
Interzone may refer to:* International zone, such as in Tangiers* Interzone , the title of a short story collection by William Burroughs; it is also a setting in his 1959 novel Naked Lunch...
, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction is a digest-size American fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House and then by Fantasy House. Both were subsidiaries of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Publications, which took over as publisher in 1958. Spilogale, Inc...
, The New York Review of Science Fiction
The New York Review of Science Fiction
The New York Review of Science Fiction is a monthly literary journal of science fiction that was established in 1988. It includes works of science fiction criticism, essays, and in-depth critical reviews of new works of fiction and scholarship. It is published by Dragon Press and the managing...
and other publications.
Van Hollander has created morbid and grotesque artwork which adorns dust jackets of books published by Arkham House
Arkham House
Arkham House is a publishing house specializing in weird fiction founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to preserve in hardcover the best fiction of H.P. Lovecraft. The company's name is derived from Lovecraft's fictional New England city, Arkham. Arkham House...
, Golden Gryphon Press
Golden Gryphon Press
Golden Gryphon Press is an independent publishing company, specializing in science fiction, fantasy, dark fantasy and cross-genre novels. It was founded in 1996 by Jim Turner, former editor at Arkham House, and is currently run by his brother Gary and his wife, Geri Turner.The company has...
, PS Publishing
PS Publishing
PS Publishing is a Hornsea based publisher founded in 1999 by Peter Crowther. They specialise in novella length fiction from the fantasy, science fiction and horror genres. It has quickly become established as one of Britain's premier small presses...
, Subterranean Press
Subterranean Press
Subterranean Press is a small press publisher in Michigan. Subterranean is best known for publishing genre fiction, primarily horror, suspense and dark mystery, fantasy, and science fiction...
, Cemetery Dance Publications
Cemetery Dance Publications
Cemetery Dance Publications is a specialty press publisher of horror and dark suspense. Cemetery Dance was founded by Richard Chizmar, a horror author, while he was in college. It is associated with Cemetery Dance magazine, which was founded in 1988. They began to publish books in 1992.Cemetery...
, Tor Books
Tor Books
Tor Books is one of two imprints of Tom Doherty Associates LLC, based in New York City. It is noted for its science fiction and fantasy titles. Tom Doherty Associates also publishes mainstream fiction, mystery, and occasional military history titles under its Forge imprint. The company was founded...
, Night Shade Books
Night Shade Books
Night Shade Books is an independent publishing company based in San Francisco, specializing in science fiction, fantasy, and horror. It was started in 1997 by Jason Williams, with Jeremy Lassen coming on board as a partner shortly after the company's founding...
and Ash-Tree Press. He has illustrated books and stories by Thomas Ligotti
Thomas Ligotti
Thomas Ligotti is a contemporary American horror author and reclusive literary cult figure. His writings are unique in style, have been noted as major continuations of several literary genres – most prominently Lovecraftian horror – and have overall been variously described as works of...
, Joan Aiken
Joan Aiken
Joan Delano Aiken MBE was an English novelist. She was born in Rye, East Sussex, into a family of writers, including her father, American poet Conrad Aiken , her sister, Jane Aiken Hodge and her brother John Aiken Joan Delano Aiken MBE (4 September 1924 – 4 January 2004) was an English novelist....
, Gregory Frost
Gregory Frost
Gregory Frost is an American author of science fiction and fantasy, and directs a fiction writing workshop at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. He received his Bachelor's degree from the University of Iowa...
, John Clute
John Clute
John Frederick Clute is a Canadian born author and critic who has lived in Britain since 1969. He has been described as "an integral part of science fiction's history."...
, Gerald Kersh
Gerald Kersh
Gerald Kersh was a British writer. Born in 1911, he began to write at the age of 8. After leaving school he worked as, amongst other things, a cinema manager, bodyguard, debt collector, fish & chip cook, travelling salesman, French teacher and all-in-wrestler whilst attempting to 'make it' as a...
, Fritz Leiber
Fritz Leiber
Fritz Reuter Leiber, Jr. was an American writer of fantasy, horror and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theatre and films, playwright, expert chess player and a champion fencer. Possibly his greatest chess accomplishment was winning clear first in the 1958 Santa Monica Open.. With...
, Matthew Hughes
Matthew Hughes
Matthew Hughes VC was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces....
, Ramsey Campbell
Ramsey Campbell
John Ramsey Campbell is an English horror fiction author.Since he first came to prominence in the mid-1960s, critics have cited Campbell as one of the leading writers in his field: T. E. D. Klein has written that "Campbell reigns supreme in the field today", while S. T...
, William Hope Hodgson
William Hope Hodgson
William Hope Hodgson was an English author. He produced a large body of work, consisting of essays, short fiction, and novels, spanning several overlapping genres including horror, fantastic fiction and science fiction. Early in his writing career he dedicated effort to poetry, although few of his...
, Clark Ashton Smith
Clark Ashton Smith
Clark Ashton Smith was a self-educated American poet, sculptor, painter and author of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories. He achieved early local recognition, largely through the enthusiasm of George Sterling, for traditional verse in the vein of Swinburne...
and Matt Cardin. His media include ink and watercolor, which he has sometimes augmented on the computer.
He is listed in the 2009 edition of Science Fiction And Fantasy Artists Of The Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary edited by Robert Weinberg, Jane Frank. His essay "The Digital Moment: Digital Politics" was published in Paint or Pixel: The Digital Divide in Illustration Art edited by Jane Frank (Nonestop Press, 2007).
Personal history
Born in the Overbrook Park area of Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, Van Hollander attended the Philadelphia College of Art, where in 1971 he received his BA in graphic design. He has worked as an employed graphic designer in addition to his freelance art work. Circa 1979 he married Terry, a fellow artist and teacher.
Awards and honors
Van Hollander has twice been awarded the World Fantasy AwardWorld Fantasy Award
The World Fantasy Awards are annual, international awards given to authors and artists who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in the field of fantasy...
for best artist, in 2000 and again in 2004, the second a shared win with Donato Giancola
Donato Giancola
Donato Giancola is an American artist specializing in science fiction and fantasy illustration.-Biography:Donato Giancola was born in 1967 and raised in Colchester, Vermont, near Burlington, Vermont...
. He was also nominated in 2000 in the award's Collection category for Necromancies and Netherworlds, co-written with Darrell Schweitzer.
He finally won the International Horror Guild Award
International Horror Guild Award
The International Horror Guild Award is a recognition presented by the International Horror Guild to recognize the achievements of those who create in the field of horror and dark fantasy. Nancy A. Collins, the founder of the award, felt there was a need for an award granted by a large,...
for Art in 2003, having been nominated both of the previous two years. In 2005 Van Hollander received an award recommendation from The British Fantasy Society
British Fantasy Society
The British Fantasy Society began in 1971 as the British Weird Fantasy Society, an offshoot of the British Science Fiction Association. The society is dedicated to promoting the best in the fantasy, science fiction and horror genres....
.