Richard Holeton


Richard Holeton is an American writer and higher-education administrator. His creative works are foundational in the hypertext and electronic literature genres. As a writer, his most notable work is the hypertext novel Figurski at Findhorn on Acid, which has been recognized as an important early work of electronic literature and is included in the hypertext canon.
A 20th Anniversary Edition of Figurski at Findhorn on Acid, in archival and contemporary versions, was released in 2021 by Washington [State University Vancouver]’s Electronic Literature Lab. Holeton's work is collected in The NEXT Museum, a digital preservation space.
Holeton's short fiction has appeared in literary journals and anthologies including ZYZZYVA, , Grain, OPEN: Journal of Arts & Letters, the Indiana Review, and the Mississippi Review. He also wrote the textbooks Composing Cyberspace: Identity, Community, and Knowledge in the Electronic Age and Encountering Cultures: Reading and Writing in a Changing World.
WWW Official Site

Biography

Early life and education

Richard Holeton was born in Orange, New Jersey and was raised in Bellevue, Washington. He earned a BA from Stanford and MA and MFA degrees from San Francisco State University.

Career

After receiving his MA in 1986, Holeton began working as a writing lecturer at San Francisco State University, Cañada College, and Stanford University. He transitioned into working with technology and student computing. He worked to teach language and literature faculty methods of integrating computers into their classroom pedagogy and became an administrator with Stanford University Libraries and residential computing. During this time he was a Director of the New Media Consortium and also worked with EDUCAUSE to co-develop the Learning Space Rating System. Following his retirement from teaching and holding administrative positions at Stanford, Holeton is Assistant Vice Provost for Learning Environments, Emeritus.
In 2014, Holeton was awarded a fellowship from MacDowell, which he spent working in the Schelling studio. He has also received fellowships from the Brown Foundation, California Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts; as well as the Transatlantic Review Award from the Henfield Foundation.

Selected works

Books

  • Figurski at Findhorn on Acid. Hypertext novel.
  • *20th Anniversary Edition
  • Composing Cyberspace: Identity, Community, and Knowledge in the Electronic Age. .
  • Encountering Cultures: Reading and Writing in a Changing World. .
  • Encountering Cultures: Reading and Writing in a Changing World. .
  • Lumber World: A Novel. Available: . Podcast available : .
  • Lumber World: The Rejection File. Available: .

Short fiction and multimedia work

  • "WAIF OD"
  • "In Denial: A Further Redaction of the Mueller Report" Available:
  • "March Madness, 1974"
  • *Republished in COG, 2018
  • **Finalist, COG Page to Screen Awards
  • "Custom Orthotics Changed My Life"
  • *Also published by Kairos on YouTube
  • "Calling Fruits and Vegetables" in Fish Anthology 2007: A Paper Heart is Beating, A Paper Boat Sets Sail. Fish Publishing, 2007.
  • *Runner-up, Fish One-Page Prize
  • "Product Placement"
  • *Honorable Mention, 2007 Mississippi Review Prize
  • "Thanks for Covering Your Lane"
  • *Finalist, 2005 Indiana Review Fiction Prize
  • *Finalist, 2012 California Writers Exchange Award, Poets & Writers
  • "Frequently Asked Questions About 'Hypertext'"
  • "Understanding Hypertext"
  • "Streleski at Findhorn on Acid" ''
  • *First Prize, Short Grain Postcard Story

Poetry

  • "Afterword: Take a Book/Leave a Book"
  • *Multimedia version, Notre Dame Review, 2020
  • "Sonnetizing the Singularity"

Nonfiction and scholarship

  • "Someone, Somewhere, with Something: The Origins of Figurski".
  • "Learning Space Rating System"
  • "Toward Inclusive Learning Spaces: Physiological, Cognitive, and Cultural Inclusion and the Learning Space Rating System"
  • "A Little Transmediation Can Be a Dangerous Thing, or What Happened When I Made a Multimedia Poem from an Artist’s Book"
  • "How Much is Too Much New Media for the Net Generation?"
  • "Signposts of the Revolution? What We Talk about When We Talk about Learning Spaces"
  • "The Net Generation on Campus and Online"
  • "New Students, Emerging Technologies, Virtual Communities, and the College Residential Experience"
  • "Windows and Mirrors: Interaction Design, Digital Art, and the Myth of Transparency " ''
  • "Constructive 'Noise in the Channel': Effects of Controversial Forwarded E-mail in a College Residential and Virtual Community"
  • "The Semi-Virtual Composition Classroom: A Model for Techno-Amphibians"
  • "Amadeus "
  • "Family Life in the 80s from a Gay Perspective"
  • "Stanford Waits for Godot: Celebrating Samuel Beckett at 80 "
  • "An Unauthorized Peek Behind the Iron Curtain" ''

Selected criticism

  • Pisarski, Mariusz. "The new Figurski…– blueprints for media translation." Electronic Literature Lab. Available: https://dtc-wsuv.org/wp/ell/2021/07/14/the-new-figurski-blueprints-for-media-translation/
  • Grigar, Dene. “Migration as Translation: Moving Figurski to the Web.” Introduction. In Holeton, Richard. Figurski at Findhorn on Acid. Vancouver, WA USA, Electronic Literature Lab. https://figurskiatfindhornonacid.com/introduction.html
  • Tratner, Michael. “The Distinctive Quality of Holeton’s Hypertext Novel.” Introduction. In Holeton, Richard. Figurski at Findhorn on Acid. Vancouver, WA USA, Electronic Literature Lab. https://figurskiatfindhornonacid.com/introduction.html
  • Available: https://scalar.usc.edu/works/rebooting-electronic-literature-volume-2/essay-on-richard-holetons-figurski-at-findhorn-on-acid?path=richard-holetons-figurski-at-findhorn-on-acid
  • Miya, Chelsea. “Figurski at Findhorn on Acid”. Electronic Literature Directory. Available: https://directory.eliterature.org/individual-work/5061
  • Available:
  • Bau de Oliveira, Joanita. "A Narrativa Especular em Hipertexto: O Caso de 'Frequently Asked Questions About “Hypertext”,' De Richard Holeton". XV Abralic. Available: https://abralic.org.br/anais/arquivos/2016_1491505737.pdf
  • *English translation: https://files.journoportfolio.com/users/43131/uploads/7c782142-5a28-46dc-9a54-bd8add95cbb7.pdf
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