Cary Holladay is an American writer and professor, best known for her historical short fiction.

In 1999, her story "Merry-Go-Sorry" about the West Memphis Three murder case was selected by Stephen King for an O. Henry Award.

[1] She is the author of a novel, Mercury; a novella, A Fight in the Doctor's Office; and six collections of short fiction.

She taught in the MFA program at the University of Memphis, with her husband, the poet John Bensko, and retired from there in 2020.

[2][3][4][5] She currently serves as a core faculty member of the low-residency MFA program at Converse University.