Jason Van Hollander (born September 9, 1949) is an American

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

book designer Book design is the art of incorporating the content, style, Word processor, format, design, and sequence of the various components and elements of a book into a coherent unit. In the words of renowned typographer Jan Tschichold (1902–1974), book ...

and occasional

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

. His stories and collaborations with

Darrell Schweitzer Darrell Charles Schweitzer (born August 27, 1952) is an American writer, editor, and critic in the field of speculative fiction. Much of his focus has been on dark fantasy and horror fiction, horror, although he does also work in science fictio ...

earned a

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy literature, fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year a ...

nomination. Van Hollander's fiction and nonfiction have appeared in ''

Weird Tales ''Weird Tales'' is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine founded by J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger in late 1922. The first issue, dated March 1923, appeared on newsstands February 18. The first editor, Edwin Baird, prin ...

'', '' Interzone'', ''

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher a ...

'', ''

The New York Review of Science Fiction ''The New York Review of Science Fiction'' is a monthly literary magazine 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 ...

'' and other publications. Van Hollander has created morbid and grotesque artwork which adorns dust jackets of books published by

Arkham House Arkham House is an American publishing house specializing in weird fiction. It was founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin, in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to publish hardcover collections of H. P. Lovecraft's best works, which had pr ...

Golden Gryphon Press Golden Gryphon Press was 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 was operated by his brother Gary a ...

PS Publishing PS Publishing is an independent book publisher based in Hornsea, UK. Background PS Publishing was founded in 1999 by Peter Crowther.Subterranean Press Subterranean Press is a small press publisher in Burton, Michigan. Subterranean is best known for publishing genre fiction, primarily horror, suspense and dark mystery, fantasy, and science fiction. In addition to publishing novels, short stor ...

Cemetery Dance Publications Cemetery Dance Publications is an American 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, whic ...

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and is the largest publisher of Chinese scien ...

Night Shade Books Night Shade Books is an American, San Francisco–based imprint, formerly an independent publishing company, that specializes in science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Among its publications have been the U.S. edition of Iain M. Banks' novel ''T ...

and

Ash-Tree Press Ash-Tree Press is a Canadian company that publishes supernatural and horror literature. The press has reprinted notable collections of ghostly stories by such writers as R. H. Malden, A. N. L. Munby, L. T. C. Rolt, Margery Lawrence, and Elea ...

. He has illustrated books and stories by

Thomas Ligotti Thomas Ligotti (born July 9, 1953) is an American horror writer. His writings are rooted in several literary genres – most prominently weird fiction – and have been described by critics as works of ''philosophical'' horror, often formed into ...

Joan Aiken Joan Delano Aiken (4 September 1924 – 4 January 2004) was an English writer specialising in supernatural fiction and children's alternative history novels. In 1999 she was awarded an MBE for her services to children's literature. For ''The ...

Gregory Frost Gregory Frost (born May 13, 1951) 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. A gr ...

John Clute John Frederick Clute (born 12 September 1940) is a Canadian-born author and critic specializing in science fiction and fantasy literature who has lived in both England and the United States since 1969. He has been described as "an integral part o ...

Gerald Kersh Gerald Kersh (26 August 1912– 5 November 1968) was a British and later also American writer of novels and short stories. Biography Born in 1912, Kersh began to write at the age of eight. After leaving school, he worked as, amongst other thin ...

Fritz Leiber Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. ( ; December 24, 1910 – September 5, 1992) was an American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theater and films, playwright, and chess expert. With writers such as Robert ...

, Matthew Hughes,

Ramsey Campbell Ramsey Campbell (born 4 January 1946) is an English horror fiction writer, editor and critic who has been writing for well over fifty years. He is the author of over 30 novels and hundreds of short stories, many of them winners of literary awa ...

William Hope Hodgson William Hope Hodgson (15 November 1877 – 19 April 1918) 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 sci ...

Clark Ashton Smith Clark Ashton Smith (January 13, 1893 – August 14, 1961) was an American writer and artist. He achieved early local recognition, largely through the enthusiasm of George Sterling, for traditional verse in the vein of Algernon Charles Swinburne ...

Richard L. Tierney Richard Louis Tierney (August 7, 1936 – February 1, 2022) was an American writer, poet and scholar of H. P. Lovecraft, probably best known for his heroic fantasy, including his series co-authored (with David C. Smith) of Red Sonja novels, fe ...

, and

Matt Cardin Matt may refer to: *Matt (name), people with the given name ''Matt'' or Matthew, meaning "gift from God", or the surname Matt *In British English, of a surface: having a non-glossy finish, see gloss (material appearance) *Matt, Switzerland, a mu ...

. 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 Overbrook Park is a neighborhood in the West Philadelphia section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in the 1940s on the site of a former farm known as Supio's farm, offering new housing for returning GIs and their famil ...

area of

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Van Hollander attended the

Philadelphia College of Art Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since 1 ...

, 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

for best artist, in 2000 and again in 2004, the second a shared win with

Donato Giancola Donato Giancola is an American artist specializing in narrative realism with science fiction and fantasy content. Biography Donato Giancola was born and raised in Colchester, near Burlington, in the state of Vermont. He currently resides in Broo ...

. He was also nominated in 2000 in the award's Collection category for '' Necromancies and Netherworlds: Uncanny Stories'', co-written with Darrell Schweitzer. He finally won the

International Horror Guild Award The International Horror Guild Award (also known as the IHG Award) was an accolade recognizing excellence in the field of Horror fiction, horror/dark fantasy, presented by the International Horror Guild (IHG) from 1995 to 2008. The IHG Awards wer ...

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 The British Fantasy Society (BFS) was founded 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. ...

References

External links

* American illustrators World Fantasy Award-winning artists Living people 1949 births Place of birth missing (living people) {{US-illustrator-stub