Hugh Hollowell

Ask Hugh anything (aha!) Hi friends. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve been updating my blog each weeknight for a couple of weeks now. I like daily blogging—it’s generative for me. It makes me practice writing, even when I’m not working on a specific writing project, like the next book. It’s like off—season training. Keeps me in shape. But in a way, blogging daily without a unifying project to order it is harder.

Ask Hugh anything (aha!)

Hi friends. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve been updating my blog each weeknight for a couple of weeks now. I like daily blogging—it’s generative for me. It makes me practice writing, even when I’m not working on a specific writing project, like the next book.…

Why I stay CW: Some mentions of sexual assault and spiritual abuse, but nothing graphic. When Dan was a boy, he idolized his grandfather: they were inseparable. Dan’s grandfather was a minister, and the way Dan described it to me,the grandfather was revered in their small town. He moved with integrity, his word was his bond, and he embodied manhood to Dan, and to many others in their town.

Why I stay

CW: Some mentions of sexual assault and spiritual abuse, but nothing graphic. When Dan was a boy, he idolized his grandfather: they were inseparable. Dan’s grandfather was a minister, and the way Dan described it to me,the grandfather was revered in their small town. He moved with…

The one about hope. I've been in a position several times recently where I have been asked what I do. To which I replied, "Do about what, exactly?," which I think is funny and they never do. It turns out, when people asked that, they mean, "What is your occupation?", and I don't have a good answer for that. The closest I come these days is "storyteller", which is somehow both true and not helpful, either to them understanding what I do, or to my getting paid work that uses my skills.

The one about hope.

I've been in a position several times recently where I have been asked what I do. To which I replied, "Do about what, exactly?," which I think is funny and they never do. It turns out, when people asked that, they mean, "What is your occupation?", and I don't have a good answer…

Unfinished Business I don't know how he found me. But that's true of so many people who read things I write—I write things, and some of them connect. It's a partnership between me and the reader. I supply the words, and y'all supply the meaning. He lived in Raleigh when I did, and so maybe he had sat in a church service where I preached, or maybe he was attracted to the work that happened at the nonprofit I ran there, or perhaps he just stumbled across me on Facebook because of something I wrote, and somebody else shared.

Unfinished Business

I don't know how he found me. But that's true of so many people who read things I write—I write things, and some of them connect. It's a partnership between me and the reader. I supply the words, and y'all supply the meaning. He lived in Raleigh when I did, and so maybe he had…

Being a regular When I first moved to Raleigh some twenty years ago now, I was living in a tiny room in a rooming house, and I needed a place to write. On the third day, I wandered into The Morning Times, a coffee shop downtown, and the barista asked my name. The next day when I came back, she used my name to greet me when I came in the door.

Being a regular

When I first moved to Raleigh some twenty years ago now, I was living in a tiny room in a rooming house, and I needed a place to write. On the third day, I wandered into The Morning Times, a coffee shop downtown, and the barista asked my name. The next day when I came back, she…

Considering the circumstances We live in perilous times. I'm sure that has always been true, for somebody. It's after all, why apocalyptic literature always has an audience: it's always the end of the world for someone. But here in the US, things seem particularly fragile. Rights we assumed were etched in stone have been seen as ephemeral. Elected leaders have made room for White Supremacy and Christian Nationalism to go unchecked, even as they pour fuel on the fires.

Considering the circumstances

We live in perilous times. I'm sure that has always been true, for somebody. It's after all, why apocalyptic literature always has an audience: it's always the end of the world for someone. But here in the US, things seem particularly fragile. Rights we assumed were…

The US seems to be unable to give its citizens healthcare, when other major countries can, and unable to arrest people on the Epstein list, when other major countries can.

I hate to say it, but maybe we are just not good at stuff.

“What was heart-breaking was to discover that people you loved — friends, relatives, neighbors — whom you assumed were civilized, harbored the most vicious feelings.” - Harper Lee, in a letter to a friend.

Flour. Milk. Shortening. Simple cheap ingredients that, once mixed together with intention and love, made something magical. I had eaten a biscuit made by the hands of someone who loved me, and thus I knew the truth." - Hugh Hollowell, Food Is Love
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"In later years I would, in an old book found in the school library, learn about alchemy - the pseudo-science that claims base ingredients could, through magic and intention, become valuable. It was dismissed by the author of that book as ludicrous, but I didn't have to be convinced.
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Don't be fooled. Food is always political. Always. Being able to feed yourself and your family means being able to determine your future. It gives you agency and power. As fellow Mississippian Fannie Lou Hamer once said, “When you've got 400 quarts of greens and gumbo soup canned for the winter, nobody can push you around or tell you what to say or do." The oligarchs learned long ago that hungry people don't fight back. The health, energy, rejuvenation, and even joy that comes from simple food, prepared well, can give downtrodden people enough margin in their lives to keep going and sometimes inch forward, even when everything around them seems to conspire against them.

Food is always political. Always.

Six days, in fact. *shrug*

Got like 30 new followers in the last hour, after not posting anything for 3 days.

Now I feel all sort of pressure to perform.

I wrote a book on a subject I love to talk about - food and it's connection to the people who love us - and then I published it, because I wanted to learn how to do that.

I'm proud of me, and I also wish I had done this 20 years ago.

"The world is really held together by the love and passion of very few people." - James Baldwin

Based on early reports from my inbox, it would seem that they are circling back, y'all.

I have full confidence that somewhere, Democratic leaders are composing a sternly worded letter.

Me say war NB: Each week I'm posting something from the archives of my more than 20 years of writing on the web. Sometimes it's a social media post, sometimes a blog post, or (like today) it's an excerpt from a newsletter issue published in 2019. Each entry gets updated with some modern context or point of view. - HH Back in 1992, Sinead O'Connor caused a sensation when, on Saturday Night Live, she tore up a picture of the Pope in protest of clergy sexual abuse.

Me say war

NB: Each week I'm posting something from the archives of my more than 20 years of writing on the web. Sometimes it's a social media post, sometimes a blog post, or (like today) it's an excerpt from a newsletter issue published in 2019. Each entry gets updated with some modern context or…

Being a control freak and bad at things is tough

Hi there! I haven't been ignoring you for the last six months, but Mississippi passed a law back in the summer that caused bluesky to block Mississippians. ☹️

But now we're not.

*Waves*

Punk Damage A thing I love is when I learn about a word or phrase that gives language to a thing I have known, but did not have words for. Like the first time I learned about harm reduction, which is a specific theory of social work that says that in order for people to make good decisions, they must first be alive so let's focus on keeping them alive to buy them time to make good decisions.

Punk Damage

A thing I love is when I learn about a word or phrase that gives language to a thing I have known, but did not have words for. Like the first time I learned about harm reduction, which is a specific theory of social work that says that in order for people to make good decisions, they…

Long slow suppers Hi there. Each week I will post an excerpt of one of the thousands of things I've written in the last 25 years, and then follow it up with some modern context or point of view. Today's piece from the archives was from my newsletter, and was written in summer of 2019. Enjoy! - HH One consequence to the amazing sort of life I have had the good fortune to lead is that I know, and have gotten to work with, a lot of all different sorts of people who live all over the world.

Long slow suppers

Hi there. Each week I will post an excerpt of one of the thousands of things I've written in the last 25 years, and then follow it up with some modern context or point of view. Today's piece from the archives was from my newsletter, and was written in summer of 2019. Enjoy! - HH…

Living off the rage The restaurant was quiet, despite its being the lunch hour. The rain came down outside, no doubt part of the reason for the low turnout. We hadn't seen each other for a while and were catching up in that meandering, slow way friends do. Here is what her son did, and here are the pictures. Here are pictures of our cats, and did you hear about so and so?

Living off the rage

The restaurant was quiet, despite its being the lunch hour. The rain came down outside, no doubt part of the reason for the low turnout. We hadn't seen each other for a while and were catching up in that meandering, slow way friends do. Here is what her son did, and here are…

16 years ago today Sixteen years ago today, we got married. On that morning, I had less than $30 in my checking account, having spent the massive sum of $80 the night before on pizza and two liter softdrinks for our rehearsal dinner. My car was a small Kia with a leaky radiator someone had given me, because I couldn't afford a car. My bride was in the early stages of the heart failure that had killed her mother, grandmother, and cousin.

16 years ago today

Sixteen years ago today, we got married. On that morning, I had less than $30 in my checking account, having spent the massive sum of $80 the night before on pizza and two liter softdrinks for our rehearsal dinner. My car was a small Kia with a leaky radiator someone had given…

On my own

The little door to enter the crawlspace under our house is tiny – perhaps 18 inches square. Every time I have to go under our house, I swear I never want to do this again. The plastic that has been laid in the crawlspace to keep the humidity down rustles as I crawl on my hands and knees…

Podcast Appearance: Soul + Practice Kathy Escobar and Phyllis Mathis interviewed me on their podcast Soul + Practice: Raw Conversations, Real Practices, and it went live yesterday. Kathy was an early role model as I carved out this weird life I have now - she is one of perhaps 5 folks whose work changed my life. I think I've known her for 19 years now.

Podcast Appearance: Soul + Practice

Kathy Escobar and Phyllis Mathis interviewed me on their podcast Soul + Practice: Raw Conversations, Real Practices, and it went live yesterday. Kathy was an early role model as I carved out this weird life I have now - she is one of perhaps 5 folks whose work…

RIP, Harry In the spring of last year, we ended up in the kitten rescue business. It started innocently enough - a stray cat had given birth to kittens in our backyard, in the hollowed out stump of an old pear tree. My wife, who does not do things half way, swooped into action.  In the 18 months since, nearly thirty kittens have passed through our house, and 10 adult cats have been spayed or neutered and then released back to their colonies, so they can live out their lives while not increasing the feral kitten population.

RIP, Harry

In the spring of last year, we ended up in the kitten rescue business. It started innocently enough - a stray cat had given birth to kittens in our backyard, in the hollowed out stump of an old pear tree. My wife, who does not do things half way, swooped into action.  In the 18 months…

Bio statements

Before the pandemic happened (correlation, not causation - at least, not directly) I spent a lot of time as a c-level speaker at festivals and symposia and conferences. I was often mentioned on the program under the phrase, "...and other exciting speakers!" As in, "Come hear Brian…

Maintenance work "In August in Mississippi there’s a few days somewhere about the middle of the month when suddenly there’s a foretaste of fall, it’s cool, there’s a lambence, a soft, a luminous quality to the light, as though it came not from just today but from back in the old classic times. It might have fauns and satyrs and the gods and---from Greece, from Olympus in it somewhere.

Maintenance work

"In August in Mississippi there’s a few days somewhere about the middle of the month when suddenly there’s a foretaste of fall, it’s cool, there’s a lambence, a soft, a luminous quality to the light, as though it came not from just today but from back in the old classic times. It…

In that kitchen

In that kitchen I learned about alchemy - the practice, if not the word. If I close my eyes, I can see the light filtered through the handmade green gingham curtains over the sink that move with the breeze. I can hear the news being read over the small radio to the left of the…