Holland grew up in outback Australia working as a horseman for local station owners.
Holland is an assistant professor of humanities and creative writing at Hong Kong Baptist University.
He is a founding member of the Asia Pacific Writers and Translators Association and was a judge of the 2016 Commonwealth Short Story Prize.
Holland's writing is influenced by Greek Orthodoxy, to which he converted, and his experiences working in Asia and outback Australia.
[1] He has described his writing style as minimalist, and also 'ambient' with reference to Japanese literature, in particular the works of Yasunari Kawabata and Yuki Kurita.