Prado, Holly

Holly Prado was born in 1938 in Lincoln, Nebraska. She received a B.A. from Albion College in 1960. After graduating, she moved to Los Angeles, where she became an active, influential member of the Southern California literary community. She married actor and poet Harry Northup in 1990. Prado has been involved in poetry and literary education for all age groups since the mid-1960s. She taught high shool English (1965-1972), participated in a government-sponsored Poetry in the Schools program (1973-1974), and has taught numerous writing workshops offered through a variety of schools and organizations. As of 2006 she serves as a faculty member of the University of Southern California Master of Professional Writing Program. Prado began writing for publication while still in college, but attributes a 1970 writing workshop taught by Alvaro Cardona-Hine with helping her develop her mature style. Prado's work is often noted for her use of a mythic voice and references to Classical myths and mysteries. Jungian psychology has also had a significant influence on Prado's work, especially her enthusiasm for keeping personal journals.

Biography

Poet Holly Prado was born in 1938 in Lincoln, Nebraska. She received a B.A. from Albion College in 1960. After graduating, she moved to Los Angeles, where she remained to become an active, influential member of the Southern California literary community as a poet, educator, and regular participant in live poetry readings and literary events. She married actor and poet Harry Northup in 1990.

Prado has been involved in poetry and literary education for all age groups since the mid-1960s. She taught English at John Marshall High School in Los Angeles (1965-1972), participated in a Poetry in the Schools Program sponsored by the Department of Labor and National Endowment for the Arts (1973-1974), and has taught numerous writing workshops offered through a variety of schools and organizations. As of 2006 she is included as a faculty member of the University of Southern California Master of Professional Writing Program.

Prado began writing for publication while still in college, but attributes a 1970 writing workshop taught by Alvaro Cardona-Hine with helping her develop her mature style. Prado's first published collection was NOTHING BREAKS OFF AT THE EDGE (1976). Her other published poetry collections include LOSSES (1977), THESE MIRRORS PROVE IT (1984), SPECIFIC MYSTERIES (1990), and ESPERANZA: POEMS FOR ORPHEUS (1998). Her poetry has also appeared in various anthologies, poetry journals, and magazines such as MS. and ROLLING STONE. In addition to poetry, Prado has contributed essays and reviews to several periodicals, notably the LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK REVIEW, and published two books of prose, FEASTS (1976) and GARDENS (1985). Prado became a founding member of the Cahuenga Press Poets Publishing Cooperative in 1989 with James Cushing, Phoebe MacAdams, and Harry Northup.

Prado's work is often noted for her use of a mythic voice and references to classical myths and mysteries. In the introduction to her collection GREATEST HITS (2000), she described the work in SPECIFIC MYSTERIES and WORD RITUALS (released as a spoken word recording in 1993) as "ceremonies making words sacred." Jungian psychology has also had a significant influence on Prado's work, especially her enthusiasm for keeping personal journals. In the literary journal CHRYSALIS (no. 7, 1979) she discussed personal journaling as an important tool for keeping in touch with the unconscious, developing intuitiveness, and exploring emotional states without self-censoring, as well as a means of "nourishing" writing intended for publication. Her personal journals record thoughts, experiences, and dreams and sometimes include drawings, photographs, or ephemera.