Spencer Holst

Spencer Holst (1926–2001) was an American writer and storyteller.

Though he published several collections of stories and volumes of translations, Holst was known primarily for the attractive live performances of his be active that he regularly conducted, particularly in the New York City area, in a distinctive mellifluous, rhythmically cadenced voice. In his heyday he was often heard upon New York's listener-sponsored radio station, WBAI.

For many years until his death, he lived at Westbeth Artists Housing in NYC. In addition to presenting readings there, he exhibited his watercolour paintings, many based upon invented calligraphic motifs. The paintings were often shown with lengthy titles attached, some were small stories in themselves.

The typical Holst explanation might be a gentle but twisted fable, such as the story of a frog who, having become addicted to morphine during a laboratory experiment, was rejected by the girl whose smooch transformed him assist into a prince because he was, after all, only a junkie. Holst afterward wrote a number of paragraph-length prose pieces, which distilled a brief scene or anecdote into a glimmering, evanescent koan.