Austin, TX (July 19, 2022) --- The Amazon Literary Partnership today announced that Torch Literary Arts, an Austin-based nonprofit dedicated to elevating the voices of Black women writers, received a grant to support its program and operations. Torch Literary Arts is among the list of 74 Amazon Literary Partnership Grant Recipients this year. In 2022, the Amazon Literary Partnership awarded more than $1M in funding to literary nonprofit organizations.
Since 2006, Torch Literary Arts has published Black women writers at all stages of their careers online at TorchLiteraryArts.org, featured notable authors with the TORCH Wildfire Readings Series, and curated special events with industry partners in Central Texas and beyond. In addition to publishing and promoting authors through community events, Torch Literary Arts supports those who are interested in developing their writing by offering creative and professional development workshops at no cost to participants.
“We are thrilled to receive this financial support to help TORCH amplify Black women writers,” said Amanda Johnston, Founder/Executive Director of Torch Literary Arts. “This is the time to invest in literary organizations like TORCH to ensure the poems and stories we write today represent our diverse community and are available for generations of readers to come.”
The Amazon Literary Partnership supports writers to help tell their stories and find their readers, empowering writers to create, publish, learn, teach, experiment, and thrive. Since 2009, the Amazon Literary Partnership has been committed to uplifting and amplifying the voices of overlooked or marginalized writers by supporting the literary community through grants to writing programs and nonprofit literary organizations, including groups like Torch Literary Arts whose mission is to promote the work of Black women by publishing contemporary creative writing by experienced and emerging writers alike and provide resources and opportunities for the advancement of Black women through literary arts.
“It’s an honor to fund these vital institutions that not only provide writers the support they need to create, but offer the opportunity to connect with their readers,” said Al Woodworth, Manager of the Amazon Literary Partnership. “Literature is expansive, entertaining, and advances our empathy and our world. We are grateful for the incredible work that these organizations do, today and every day.”
About Torch Literary Arts
Torch Literary Arts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization established to publish and promote creative writing by Black women. We publish contemporary writing by experienced and emerging writers alike online at TorchLiteraryArts.org. TORCH has featured work by Toi Derricotte, Colleen J. McElroy, Tayari Jones, Sharon Bridgforth, Crystal Wilkinson, Patricia Smith, Natasha Trethewey, Elizabeth Alexander, and others. Programs include the Wildfire Reading Series, writing workshops, and retreats.
To learn more about Torch Literary Arts, please visit TorchLiteraryArts.org
About The Amazon Literary Partnership
Since 2009, the Amazon Literary Partnership has provided more than $15 million in grant funding to more than 160 literary organizations, assisting many thousands of writers. Among the organizations Amazon has supported over the years include the Asian American Writers Workshop, National Book Foundation, PEN America, Poets & Writers, Girls Write Now, Graywolf Press, Lambda Literary, Loft Literary Center, National Novel Writing Month, Words Without Borders, Yaddo, WriteGirl, and many more. Through Amazon’s annual grants, Amazon supports literary centers, writing workshops, residencies, fellowships, literary magazines, independent publishers, and poetry and translation programs. Writers supported by some of these organizations have gone on to become best-selling and award-winning authors.
To learn more about the Amazon Literary Partnership, please visit www.amazonliterarypartnership.com
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