{{short description|American writer (born 1959)}} {{infobox writer |name=Bruce Holbert |birth_date={{birth date and age|1959|10|4}} |occupation=Writer |nationality=American |education=Eastern Washington University<br>Iowa Writers' Workshop (MFA) |awards=Washington State Book Award (2015) }} '''Bruce Holbert''' (born October 4, 1959) is an American writer. He is the author of the novels ''Lonesome Animals'' (Counterpoint Press), and the ''Hour of Lead'' (Counterpoint Press) which won the 2015 Washington State Book Award for Fiction and ''Whiskey'' (Farrar Straus & Giroux)<ref>{{cite web|title=Book review|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/bruce-holbert/whiskey/|website=Kirkus Reviews|publisher=Kirkus Reviews|accessdate=12 February 2018}}</ref>
==Early life/education== Holbert graduated from Lake Roosevelt High School in Coulee Dam in the spring of 1978, then attended Eastern Washington University where he graduated with a degree in English/Education in 1983. He graduated with an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop in 1990.
In 1982, Holbert inadvertently shot and killed one of his friends in a gun accident. Charges against Holbert were eventually dropped. Holbert has stated that he remains "numbed by guilt."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/opinion/sunday/i-killed-my-friend.html|title = Opinion | Sleeping with Guns|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 27 April 2013|last1 = Holbert|first1 = Bruce}}</ref>
He worked at Mount Spokane High School for 30 years, retiring in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nailen |first=Dan |title=Spokane author Bruce Holbert on his ripping, rambunctious new novel Whiskey |url=https://www.inlander.com/culture/spokane-author-bruce-holbert-on-his-ripping-rambunctious-new-novel-whiskey-8528947 |access-date=2025-05-05 |website=Inlander |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-03-11 |title=Bruce Holbert takes a shot of ‘Whiskey’ in latest novel set in Eastern Washington |url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/mar/11/bruce-holbert-takes-a-shot-of-whiskey-in-latest-no/ |access-date=2025-05-05 |website=Spokesman.com |language=en}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://counterpointpress.com/authors/bruce-holbert/ Biography] at Counterpoint Press *[http://www.inlander.com/spokane/article-17918-western-gothic.html Interview] at ''The Pacific Northwest Inlander''
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Holbert, Bruce}} Category:21st-century American novelists Category:American crime fiction writers Category:American male novelists Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:American male short story writers Category:21st-century American short story writers Category:21st-century American male writers Category:Eastern Washington University alumni Category:Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni
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