Holly Hubbard Preston is a freelance journalist, essayist and fiction writer.

Attracted to places and people often overlooked, her work seeks to reveal the universal truths hidden in the shadows of an ordinary life. 

A sixth generation Northern California native, she has lived in Los Angeles, New York, Washington D.C., and for a brief time, Nuremberg, Germany.

Her non-fiction work has appeared in the New York Times Global Edition, where she was a regular contributor for 14 years, along with numerous other mainstream magazines and newspapers. 

A regular contributor to NPR’s San Francisco affiliate, her recorded Perspectives have accompanied Bay Area residents to work and school and the breakfast table for nearly 20 years. Of late, you can find her on Medium, too. 

Fiction, which was always her endgame, is finally front and center.  In addition to publishing short stories, Holly is now seeking representation for What Birds Know, a debut novel set in the former East Germany and inspired by real events. 

Holly is currently at work on a second novel, Snag Town. 

In 2013, she received an MFA in Creative Writing from Stony Brook University in New York; her mentors included Ursula Hegi, Daniel Menacker, and Robert Reeves. An assistant editor at Narrative Magazine, she also teaches creative writing in St. Helena, California, where she lives with her husband, three kids and dog.