But Northern publishers, fortunately, don't pay much mind. Already, Holman has had her essays and articles appear in such national magazines as Self, Redbook and DoubleTake , proof enough of her success as a writer. Now this spring, she scored big with her essay in DoubleTake . In its 25 th year, the Pushcart Prize publishes about 70 short stories, essays, memoirs and poems each year in an anthology distributed by W. W. Norton. Henderson and his five-person editorial staff in upstate New York review about 8,000 manuscripts.
Nominations come from publishers of literary magazines across the United States.
Holman brings together that particular combination of experience and talent needed for a writer to coordinate a literary program as unique as Duke's. Every Friday at noon, for instance, she serves as facilitator of the Osler Literary Roundtable, begun more than 10 years ago at the request of Dr. Francis Neelon, an endocrinologist who believes hospital patients and staff need time together to hear stories and poetry and read them aloud. In addition, Holman coordinates the medical center's Write for You program, which she says is her main passion. The program was begun shortly before Holman arrived at Duke, when her predecessor made 20 journals available to pediatric bone marrow patients and their parents as a way to distract them from the grueling procedure. The children and their parents snapped up the journals.