I've been working on this podcast for years now. Since I first saw the lurid cover of Iceberg Slim's Pimp in the "Black Fiction" section of a bookstore, I have studied, read, and obsessed with the publisher Holloway House. And, of course, my friend Gary Phillips is the only person I wanted to discuss this publisher and their authors with. When we finally got together, the discussion was everything I had hoped for because his obsession with Holloway House was as strong as mine. The result is the podcast you see above. I've trimmed it down a bit for length.
Show Notes
The primary source of information for the history of Holloway House came from two books:
Street Players: Black Pulp Fiction and the Making of a Literary Underground by Kinohi Nishikawa
Pimping Fictions: African American Crime Literature and the Untold Story of Black Pulp Publishing by Justin Gifford
Nishikawa's book, in particular, is filled with insight and historical details not found in any other source. Plus, despite being an academic study, it's easy to read with a minimum of theory.
Special Guest - Gary Phillips
Gary Phillips has been a community activist, labor organizer and delivered dog cages. He’s published various novels, comics, short stories and edited several anthologies including Orange County Noir and the award-winning The Obama Inheritance: Fifteen Stories of Conspiracy Noir. Violent Spring, first published in 1994 was named in 2020 one of the essential crime novels of Los Angeles. He was a senior story editor on FX’s Snowfall, about crack and the CIA in 1980s South Central where he grew up.
Gary mentions in the podcast that the best book to introduce you to his writing style and world creation is The Jook. Click the link for more info on the book and to visit Gary's professional website.
Ep 19 - Holloway House and the Rise of Black Pulp Fiction