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Victoria Adams-Kennedy is a Baltimore-based writer whose work engages in the complexities of Black Love. Her first novel, Sometimes Love, was published in 2017 by Brown Girls Books. Don’t Walk Away, her second novel was published in 2019. She has contributed to three anthologies, including The Dating Game (Brown Girls, 2015). Her short story “A Handful of Dreams'' may be found at midnightandindigo.com. Victoria is the founder of Zora’s Den, a social and support group for Black women writers for which she co-edited two anthologies – The Fire Inside, Volumes I & II. Victoria holds an MFA in Creative Writing & Publishing Arts from the University of Baltimore. She is currently working on her third novel. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter. Something Wonderful by Victoria Adams-Kennedy As Sequoia leads the protestors west on North Avenue, water surges from a fire hydrant, flooding them with relief from the July heat. The air is thick with humidity and oppression, as people armed with rage and nervous energy fill the street. Another police shooting is the last thing the city needs and there’s a good chance no one will pay for it. A teenager has been killed by an overzealous cop. The angry words voiced from her podcast have found fertile ground in her listening audience and the multitude is growing by the minute. Today is the day she trades her microphone for a bullhorn. This isn’t the first time she’s pushed back against fear to speak her mind. But it is the first time she’s wondered if she is doing it right. She jumps the curb to avoid the stream of trash: broken glass, swirling cigarette butts, and God only knows what else. Cameras are everywhere: TV crews, freelance journalists, and the ubiquitous cell phone in the hands of yelling marchers and spectators. Becoming the face of this movement is a stroke of luck. She doesn’t know yet if it’s good or bad. At her command, the crowd comes to a complete stop and turns to face her on an abandoned stoop. “What do we want?” She yells into the bullhorn. “Justice!” They call back. “When do we want it?” “Now!” They’ve seen enough marches and protests to memorize the slogans. Calling them out used to bring her more satisfaction. The image she projects is one of a secure and confident woman, but the strong opposition to her role in this protest has her rattled. It doesn’t help that the mayor has labeled her his foe in this fight. That reminder is unnerving but not enough to silence her. Sequoia has been using the airwaves to paint a picture of the victim’s life, beyond the stereotypes. His mother shouldn’t be mourning the death of her oldest child. She is compelled to make sure people know the complexities of their story and feel the loss of another Black life. She moves on to another overused chant. “No justice.” “No peace,” the crowd replies. A rumble of thunder echoes the unrest. “Know justice.” “Know peace.” Though the chanting rings familiar, it doesn’t make her feel safe. When an explosion rocks the place where she stands, filling the not-so-distant sky with flames and smoke, her concerns are validated. Chaos claims control of the moment. One minute, Sequoia is caught up in the passion of the protest; the next, she is sprawled across the steps on her back, the bullhorn knocked askew. A strong grip tugs her from the lopsided concrete. She is on her feet but dazed, as the crowd closes in. She doesn’t know whose hands pull her to safety and panic rises in her throat like bile. A voice enters the confusion. “Come with me.” The command is given with such authority, she doesn’t think to question it, at first. The man, upon whose back her eyes are now glued, clutches her hand and guides her through the crowd that seems to part just for him. His damp tee shirt clings to him, making every movement visible through the thin white fabric. She walks a few more steps before coming to a halt and prying her hand free. When he turns to face her, she falters. The eyes peering into hers belong to none other than Michael Franklin, the mayor’s son and her high school crush. It takes her back twenty years to when she shrunk in his presence. “Michael?” “Yeah. You hurt?” For someone known for using her voice to make thousands move, she’s speechless in the middle of her own protest. “I-I think I’m okay.” She dusts off her jeans to help regain her composure. “You hit the ground pretty hard. You sure?” “Ask me that again tomorrow.” She offers with an empty chuckle. He reclaims her hand and continues to walk with purpose. There’s an ease in his movements as if they’ve touched before … as if he’s never been rejected. They are walking in silence, but Sequoia needs to know his plan even if it happens to go awry. “Where are we going? I can’t just disappear.” “Someplace safe.” He pauses and looks around. “Have you forgotten about the threats?” She hasn’t but she’s shocked he’s been keeping record of the public warnings against her. She takes a minute to survey their surroundings and notes the sound of approaching fire engines. “Of course not. But these people came because I called them.” “These people wouldn’t want you to get hurt.” She gives a compliant nod and allows Michael to lead her to the “someplace safe” he mentioned. When they reach the middle of the block, he lets go of her hand to push open the door of a popular Pan-African bookshop. The bell clanging overhead announces their arrival. The scent of Black Love incense greets them, as they enter. They find seats at a table in the rear next to a large fan blowing hot air, while the clerk behind the counter talks on the phone. “You ok?” he asks again, as she scans the crowded space. “I need to know who did this and if anyone is injured…” “I’ll find out from my father, as soon as things settle.” “Your father is somewhere safe and comfortable.” “As he should be. I’m out here.” They sit in awkward silence and listen to anxious chatter from other patrons. The loud voices are especially grating because of the protestors’ silence outside. Their chants wouldn’t be stale, like before. They’d be welcomed and reassuring. The bell calls their attention to the front door and Sequoia bristles at the sight of a sunburned police officer whose eyes are sweeping across the room. She fights the urge to slide down in her seat. Perhaps they consider her complicit. “Folks, I need you to shelter in place until we get the streets settled. We don’t want any of you in harm’s way.” His smirk doesn’t go unnoticed when his eyes meet hers and hold. She lifts her chin in defiance. The store clerk comes from behind the counter, at his beckoning. “Please keep the door locked,” he instructs. “I’ll give you the all-clear when it’s safe.” The clerk doesn’t look convinced by his show of concern. By now, Sequoia is standing, speaking under her breath. “Too bad, they were the harm in Corey’s way.” The sympathy in Michael’s eyes touches her. He seems to really care. “I need to get a word on the air and reassure people,” she says. “I think we just need to be patient.” Michael urges her back down into her chair and tries to reassure her. There is no indication he recognizes her other than her connection to the protest. She is just as sure he never knew she existed during the four years they spent at the same high school. Sequoia never had any delusions of dating anyone like him. He is from a very different class of Black people who arrange marriages to join prestigious families and present their children to society. He has a storied background steeped in the Civil Rights Movement with local trailblazers as his forefathers. Where she comes from, guys like him don’t date girls like her. They play with them and when playtime is over, they go home. He answers his cell phone on the first ring. “Hey, Pops. I’m safe. I’m in the bookstore on North Avenue and it’s locked down.” Her eyes are fixed on him, as he converses with his father. She can’t decide whether to feel confident about his connection to the mayor or bothered by his privilege of feeling protected. “Yes, sir.” He continues. “Let me know if there’s anything else.” When he ends the call, he returns her glare. “What,” he asks. “Did your father send you to spy on me?” Her question seems to take him by surprise. He sputters before answering. “Excuse me?” Sequoia tempers her accusation with a mischievous smile. “He has given me the dubious honor of naming me a troublemaker,” she says. It is Michael’s turn to smile and his already handsome face transforms into something so beautiful, she’d probably forgive him anything, even having Wes Franklin for a father. “Give me some credit for choosing to come to a troublemaker’s assistance on my own.” “I’ll have you know, I make good trouble.” She surprises herself with the declaration. It’s spoken as a joke, but she means it. “That’s what I like,” he says. Sequoia’s face heats with embarrassment. For as outspoken as she is, her confidence with attractive men could use some work. Usually, she thinks of everything she should have said, after she’s left their company. “So…the trailblazing Sequoia Cantrell, huh?” The label shocks rather than soothes her. As a teenager she wanted so badly to be seen by him and now that she has his undivided attention, she wants to disappear. “I actually think you and my dad have more in common than either of you know. You’re on opposite sides that need to come together.” She has no retort for his remark and the silence prompts her to fill it. “You don’t remember me, do you, Michael?” “I know exactly who you are.” The way he clenches his bottom lip with his teeth makes something deep inside her clench too. She can’t tell whether she should cross her heart or her legs. “But I admit, up until an hour ago, I only knew you as the freedom fighter on the news. I had a déjà vu moment while watching you on that stoop. It reminded me of high school when you wore an Afro and championed every other cause. The fellas feared you – called you Sista Souljah.” As his speech drifts into slang and its cadence changes, she realizes he’s getting more comfortable. He’s drifting into a rhythm that sounds like home. It feels good – his remembering her as someone with grit and not the mousy girl she imagined back then. She is more than another face in the crowd. Sequoia’s not sure why this matters, after all these years, but it gives her a boost. Though she wants to, she doesn’t dare look away. “I guess it prepared me for this,” she says with a nervous laugh. “I’m sure of it.” “Were you... scared of me… too?” Those six halting words are filled with so much daring, he looks like he’s measuring his response with care before it crosses his lips. “Nah, I wasn’t scared. Some girls ain’t meant for flings and you don’t step to them if that’s all you’re looking for.” She’s thankful the blush is hidden beneath her brown cheeks. ******** Lounging in the back feels like she is hiding away. In the lull, she rises from her seat and walks past the front counter to the door. Michael follows her lead. “Thanks for coming,” the clerk says, without looking up from the book she’s reading. Outside, a few officers linger. The sidewalks are clear of people but not debris. Discarded water bottles and protest signs are strewn about. All is quiet but the tension remains. So much for the “all clear”, she thinks. It makes her feel like the fight is only postponed, not abandoned. Far off, a bolt of lightning streaks across the sky. There is no reason to stand around, but she can’t seem to pull herself away. Michael doesn’t move either. “Where’d you park,” he asks. “I walked.” “You walked?” She smirks at the indignation in his voice. “I don’t live that far.” “Until this clears up, everywhere is far.” Before they can finish negotiating her transportation, a reporter and cameraman are upon them. It is obvious they aren’t planning to leave the scene empty-handed. Sequoia accepts it as a benefit and decides to grant a brief interview. “What do you think the mayor will have to say about this recent development, Ms. Cantrell?” The ginger-haired reporter is assertive without being too pushy. Sequoia looks back toward Michael before answering the question and is disappointed to see his spot beside her empty. What the hell? She isn’t ready for the conversation between them to end. Allowing the reporter that one question, she ends the interview with a vow to find something wonderful on such an ugly day. Then she prepares for the walk home. The air is still heavy, and the heat is stifling. By comparison, it makes the muggy bookstore much more appealing, and she considers going back inside until the sun sinks lower in the sky. She swallows the bitter pill of Michael’s abrupt absence and stands at the curb weighing which route she’ll take. When playtime is over, they go home. The thought pricks at her pride. While she thumbs through her phone, she hears an engine revving and steps back. “Hey Sista Souljah! Today’s your lucky day.” She looks up to see Michael sitting on a motorcycle. His smile is a beam of light in what is quickly becoming an impending storm. The mischief in his voice entices her. “How’s that,” she asks, cocking her head to the side. It feels too good to stop flirting now. “Looks like I’m headed your way.” He coaxes her onto the back of his bike and hands her the only helmet. She loosely wraps her arms around his body. “You wanna meet my father?” “Is that a trick question?” “I think it’s long overdue.” She leans into him and holds on tighter. He smells like soap and summer and man. When they pull off, she enjoys the breeze created by his speed. She doesn’t balk at the first drop of rain. The skies tend to open up on summer days, calming the heat as well as the pressure of untapped possibilities. It’ll be over, as soon as it starts, she muses and wonders if this feeling she’s clutching close to her will have the same fate. When they stop at a red light, she feels the second drop and moves close enough to place her lips against his ear. But she refrains. Not wanting to lose momentum, she shoots her shot. “So, you were intimidated, huh?” She asks, emboldened by their tête-à-tête. “Yeah,” he says, after a pause. “I was. Just a little.” She can’t see his smile, but she can feel it. There’s something so magical in this moment. A peace she can’t name is relaxing every inch of her. “I was sixteen,” he adds. “Don’t let that go to your head.” As they ride against the wind, Sequoia wonders if she’s doing this right. She allows the fleeting thought to drift away. Before she can stop it, her smile is bold and goofy. She finally replies. “Too late.” ### Torch Literary Arts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit established to publish and promote creative writing by Black women. We publish contemporary writing by experienced and emerging writers alike. TORCH has featured work by 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. Help TORCH continue to publish and promote Black women writers by donating today.

Jenelle Samuels a.k.a Neptune Naiadis, is a versatile creative writer, artist, and jewelry designer. She is a poet whose work has appeared in the Caribbean Writers Journal, Rebel Women Lit, and as of 2022, she was shortlisted for the National Library of Jamaica’s Poet Laureate Prize for Poetry. In her spare time, she explores photography and a wide spectrum of creative storytelling through her comics, illustrations, and short screenplays. As of 2023, her favorite book is Cannibal by Safiya Sinclair. Follow her on Instagram. To Find Beauty In Downtown, Kingston, I plant my bottom on the swollen old asphalt, and through the thick scent of rotting fruit and dirty bodies, bright red blood mixed in the dirt, I will breathe in air, to begin searching for peace. I will suck my breath past people whose words are thrown up like catapults, their hatred bleeding from watching the 7 o clock news, Breaking News, Woman and her four children were stabbed to death today in Cocoa Piece, Clarendon. The killer is still at large. They can only bow their heads in prayer, shake their bodies a few times to let everyone know the lord is in the air watching, and like him, walk away as if nothing happened. But, through this, I’ll still continue to search the air, I will stick out my tongue and taste the rot if I have to, I will sit on the ground searching, lay in a windowless room, collect wages just enough to buy me a meal for the day, then, sleep on a low mattress on the floor to avoid stray bullets, just to find the breeze, untainted, the smell of coal-pot fire, wild bougainvillea’s thick-sweet scent that I can breathe so deeply, my lungs begin to bloom. Torch Literary Arts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit established to publish and promote creative writing by Black women. We publish contemporary writing by experienced and emerging writers alike. TORCH has featured work by 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. Help TORCH continue to publish and promote Black women writers by donating today.

Multigenre writer, Shay Youngblood is the author of numerous short stories and books, including the novel Black Girl in Paris. Her published plays have been widely produced and her short stories have been performed at Symphony Space and recorded for NPR’s Selected Shorts. Photo by Carolyn Miller Shay Youngblood is a writer, visual artist, and educator. She is the author of several novels including Black Girl in Paris, collections of short stories and numerous essays. Her first two children’s books Mama’s Home (Make Me A World) and A Family Prayer (Convergent) will both be published by Random House. Her published plays have been widely produced and her short stories have been performed at Symphony Space and recorded for NPR’s Selected Shorts. In 2021 she was appointed Commissioner to the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission and serves as a board member of the Yaddo artists’ community. Her current projects include a novel in progress, a superhero graphic novel collaboration, and The Architecture of Soul Sound a multi-media performance work about architecture, memory, and the environment inspired by research in Japan, China, and the U.S. She teaches in the Graduate Creative Writing Program at City College New York. Visit her website and follow her on Instagram and Twitter. Read an excerpt from Youngblood's play "Square Blues." Produced by Horizon Theater in Atlanta, Georgia, Summer 2022. Photos by Greg Mooney The Interview Conducted with Amanda Johnston over email in January 2023. Your writing lives in novels, children’s books, plays, and throughout your artistic works. When working on a new piece, do you know what it is going to become in advance or do you let the work evolve as you go? I enjoy the challenge of working in a wide range of genres and forms. When I have an idea or a story in mind I spend time thinking about the proper vessel for it. Is it a short story, a novel, or a film? The work most definitely evolves as I do. My fictional work draws on my life. I’m working on a memoir now and I need to be vulnerable in a different way than I am in my novels. In fiction, I can massage the truth of a story that’s mine or one I observed, but for a memoir, I have to ask myself, how much do I tell? Where do I begin? Where do I end? I don’t want to tell my story from birth to the present moment, so I’m having to choose the journey I want to share with readers. Your novel, Black Girl in Paris, has long been a tome for Black women becoming and evolving in mind, body, and soul. Did you think it would have such a lasting impact? When I was writing Black Girl in Paris, I wanted to create a map, a model that could be encouragement for other young Black women to follow their own paths. It never occurred to me that it would still be read over 30 years later by another generation of young women in the 21st century who are inspired to make their own bold solo journeys. It’s been optioned for a feature-length film by a Black woman writer which delights me. I think audiences are ready for it now. It’s time. Travel and exploration are recurring themes in your work and life. What advice would you give to Black women considering traveling abroad? The first thing I do is read about the history of a place, thirty days before my departure I study the language every day for at least 30 minutes (Pimsleur is fantastic) listening to the language on audio, watching movies, and listening to the radio (Radio Garden app). I can get an understanding of the culture by learning the language. My goal is survival, to learn the basic niceties first of the language of the country I’m visiting. Please, thank you, delicious are polite and go a long way. Hello, goodbye, excuse me, do you speak English? Numbers, how to ask for directions, and how much something costs. Travel inspires me, informs my work, and deepens my understanding of the ways we are all connected as humans. Also, read fiction and writing by Black women about places you’d like to travel. Faith Adiele’s work is essential reading. Look for an updated version of the anthology, Go Girl: The Black Woman’s Book of Adventure and Travel by Elaine Lee. There are so many resources available these days. I hope readers will share them with me because I’m passport ready! Congratulations on your recent children’s book, Mama’s Home! The book shares the story of a girl with seven “Big Mamas” across seven homes who support and care for her while her mother is traveling for work. What do you hope readers take away from this snapshot of a multigenerational extended and chosen family? My birth mother died about a week before my third birthday. I was raised by more than 8 mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers, great aunts, and women in the community who took on the task of my education in ways of being a Black woman, how to keep myself safe, how to value myself and my community, how to create a chosen family and maintain it, how to love and be loved, to believe in yourself and uplift others. That it takes a village to raise a child. In your play, “Square Blues,” we enter a moment of multiple protests - refusal to pay taxes and demands for reparations, and the arrest of an activist family member. Why did you choose to begin the play with this specific type of tension? "Square Blues" is about revolutionary love and activism through the lens of three generations in a southern family. The main tension exists between the family members which is how it often plays out in intergenerational conflicts. It blows my mind that it took 30 years for this play to get a full production. In the spring of 1992, I was riding on a train from New York City to Providence, Rhode Island where I was studying playwriting with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Paula Vogel at Brown University. I picked up an abandoned New York Times newspaper on the seat beside me. On the front page in the lower right-hand corner was a small image of a Black baseball player with a price tag hanging around his body. I looked around the train car to see if anyone else felt the same rage I felt, reading at least three racially biased articles in the newspaper that day. In response to my anger, I began to write "Square Blues" from the point of view of a character who had a visceral response to being assaulted every day by images and actions that constantly denied his humanity, his cultural heritage, and his manhood, and so takes action. I also wanted to look at the very different strategies of three generations in a family confronting daily acts of racism, oppression, and injustice, and how they each stood up for their beliefs. Dream sharing, theatrical provocative protests, a wall mural created during the course of the play, original songs, and interracial, intergenerational, racism, classism, sexism, homophobia, and redefining what makes a family were all ingredients that makes this my most experimental play. Does living in the south inform your work? As a southern-born Black woman, I carry the south with me. I wrote my first collection of short stories The Big Mama Stories while I was living in the south of France a few miles from James Baldwin’s home and welcome table. I closed my eyes in that tiny one-room house on the side of a mountain in Vence and instantly I was back in south Georgia. The sounds, smells, tastes, visual landscape, art, music and lyrical language of the southern tongue are part of my core. You currently live in Atlanta. What are three things first-time visitors must do when they come to the city? Visit the Black Art in America Art Gallery founded by Najee & Seteria Dorsey, the Beltline and the rooftop at Ponce City Market are fun. It is a must to explore all the great places to eat! You’ll really get to know the city through its food. Name another Black woman writer people should read. It’s not fair to ask me to name one. There are so many Black women writers who are writing important and beautifully written narratives. I was invited to the first Freedom Writers Residency in January for a week-long writing residency for Black Women Writers at the Great Oak Inn on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It has been nourishing to spend time in community with other Black women writers. We shared work in progress with each other. I’m excited to see what’s coming next from each of them including, Natalie Baszile, Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Emily Raboteau, Tiphanie Yanique, Faith Adiele, Jacinda Townsend, Lauren Francis Sharma. I recommend we buy a book by a new Black woman writer each month to support all the wonderful new voices being published. Torch Literary Arts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit established to publish and promote creative writing by Black women. We publish contemporary writing by experienced and emerging writers alike. TORCH has featured work by 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. Help TORCH continue to publish and promote Black women writers by donating today.

Arianne Elena Payne is a Black writer, multidisciplinary creative, and aspiring historian from Chicago, IL. She has received the 2022 Graybeal-Gowen Poetry Prize, the 2022 Virginia Downs Poetry Award, and the 2019 Frederick Hartmann Poetry Prize. Her work has been featured in Voicemail Poems, TORCH, and is forthcoming in The Shenandoah Review. Situated in the complexities and lyricism of Blackness, girlhood, and geographies of resistance—her work strives to take Black people and their histories seriously. Follow Arianne on Instagram and Twitter. Am I Beautiful? it’s always been a black thing to talk smooth. maybe it’s swagger or survival— a type of generational wealth, this way we can speak of flowers & then bloom even as we side-eye the shears ready to prune & reduce for more “fruitful” growth. no, i am not done dreaming of the shade, all the ways a shadow struts & saves me. our petals know we will wither. someone’s auntie said, y’all better get to living. she meant while we still could. at night we welcome the breeze. let it tangle our words. might say things we can’t be, might be things we can’t say. yes, i see the stem of you & smile. ### Torch Literary Arts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit established to publish and promote creative writing by Black women. We publish contemporary writing by experienced and emerging writers alike. TORCH has featured work by 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. Help TORCH continue to publish and promote Black women writers by donating today.

Madison ‘Mocha’ Hunter, a Detroit, MI, native, is one-eighth of Mobile, AL’s award-winning poetry troupe “Powerlines Poetry,” where she is widely known as the spoken word artist “DictionKanari”. She has had the privilege of interviewing literary all-stars Dr. Roxane Gay, Adrian Matejka, and Dr. Jericho Brown. Her work has appeared in Watershed Voice, You Might Need To Hear This, and Oracle Fine Arts Review. Mocha is pro canceled plans, sunsets, charcuterie boards, and keeping the Sabbath. When she isn’t creating, she’s collecting memories with friends, family, and even enemies as well as reading, roller skating (or some rhythmic attempt to stay in gravity’s good graces), vacationing, vinyl record hunting, tasting culture and critiquing cuisine in the gritty and glorious city of Memphis; it is also in this great city that she is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing along with a certificate in African American Literature. Follow Madison on her website and on Instagram and Twitter. Live, My Dearest. Then, Burn Em Alive. for Mia Firecrackers and fuzzy slippers are the soul of you. Soft sonder that lullabies my dented soup can of a mind always longing to be warmed. Remain stove burner. There is unlimited gold in salsaing with the Savior. Remember to feel for the commands of His heart, not just gaze at the glory of His hips. Rest in rhythm. Your forgetfulness is not failure. Just fear, time, and false gods, dog walking your dome away from clarity. Release this rebuke. Mississippi burns hotter than a hopeless hog roasting at a luau knowing a woman made of magnolias owns herself, not the limbs. Raise your glass. ### Torch Literary Arts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit established to publish and promote creative writing by Black women. We publish contemporary writing by experienced and emerging writers alike. TORCH has featured work by 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. Help TORCH continue to publish and promote Black women writers by donating today.

Jones serves as Director for Northwestern University Press is the author of Vessel: Poems (Milkweed Editions), winner of the Midwest Book Award and featured as one of “12 Books to Savor” by O, The Oprah Magazine. Torch Literary Arts is pleased to welcome Parneshia Jones to the Advisory Board. Her experience and knowledge as an accomplished writer and leader in the publishing industry will add to the diverse professional background of the board and guide the growth of the organization. See the full list of directors and advisory board members here. Parneshia Jones is an award-winning poet and publisher. Jones serves as Director for Northwestern University Press and acquires poetry for the TriQuarterly Books and Seminary Co-op Offsets imprints. Her acquisitions have garnered some of the highest literary honors, including the National Book Award, Kingsley Tufts, Pulitzer Prize finalists, Hurston Wright Legacy Awards, NAACP Image Awards, L.A. Times Book Award, and others. Jones is the author of Vessel: Poems (Milkweed Editions), winner of the Midwest Book Award and featured as one of “12 Books to Savor” by O, The Oprah Magazine. She has been honored with the Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Award, the Margaret Walker Short Story Award, and the Aquarius Press Legacy Award. Named one of the “25 Writers to Watch” by the Guild Complex and one of “Lit 50: Who Really Books in Chicago” by Newcity Magazine, her work has appeared in anthologies including, She Walks in Beauty: A Woman’s Journey Through Poems and The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South. Jones has been featured on PBS Newshour, the Academy of American Poets, espnW, and an international poetry exchange in Seoul, South Korea and sponsored by DreamYard. She previously served as Board President for the Cave Canem Foundation and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Poetry Foundation and advisory board for Shorefront Legacy Center. She resides in her native home, Evanston, IL. Torch Literary Arts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit established to publish and promote creative writing by Black women. We publish contemporary writing by experienced and emerging writers alike. TORCH has featured work by 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. Help TORCH continue to publish and promote Black women writers by donating today.

The Torch Literary Arts Board of Directors is proud to announce its recently elected officers. Florinda Bryant will serve as Board Chair, Dr. Sequoia Maner will serve as Board Secretary, and Candace Lopez will serve as Board Treasurer. After many years of dedicated service as Board Chair, Sheree Ross will continue to champion Torch Literary Arts as a member of the Advisory Board. See the full list of directors and Advisory Board members here. Florinda Bryant (Board Chair) is an interdisciplinary artist and arts educator who calls Austin home. Holding it down in every aspect of performance, whether writing, performing, or directing, Florinda’s passion and dedication to her craft is evident. As a performer and director, she is no stranger to many stages in Austin, having worked with Salvage Vanguard Theater, the Rude Mechs, the Vortex, Paper Chairs, and Teatro Vivo. Some of her favorite performances include Am I White ( by Adrienne Dawes), The Panza Monologues ( by Virginia Grise), Bright Now Beyond ( By Daniel Alexander Jones and Bobby Halverson), and Fixing King John ( adapted by Kirk Lynn). As a writer and poet, Florinda enjoys engaging audiences in explorations around identity, body, and community. Her award-winning one-woman show Half-Breed Southern Fried was produced as part of the Performing Blackness Series at UT and was directed by Laurie Carlos. Dr. Sequoia Maner (Board Chair) is an Assistant Professor of English at Spelman College where she teaches classes about 20-21st century African American literature and culture. She is the author of the prize-winning poetry chapbook Little Girl Blue (2021, Host Publications) and co-editor of the book Revisiting the Elegy in the Black Lives Matter Era (2020, Routledge). Sequoia’s 33 1/3 book about Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly debuts summer 2022 (Bloomsbury). Her poem “upon reading the autopsy of Sandra Bland” was a finalist for the 2017 Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Prize and her essays, poems, and reviews can be found in venues such as Meridians, Obsidian, The Langston Hughes Review, The Feminist Wire, Auburn Avenue, and elsewhere. She is at work on a poetic memoir about the foster care system in Los Angeles. Candace Lopez (Board Treasurer) is a non-profit professional with over 14 years of experience in Fundraising and Development. She is a Development Generalist with a specialization in individual giving, program development, and operational efficiency. She is humbled to have raised money for organizations in Austin, San Antonio, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Her fundraising portfolio is diverse and spans various causes including civil liberties, the arts, higher education, domestic violence, and gender equity. She currently serves as the Chief Philanthropy Officer for Horizons Foundation in San Francisco, the first community foundation of, by, and for LGBTQ people. In her current role, she leads the foundation’s development efforts as well as philanthropic advising. Candace is a member of The Austin Project, a writing project for women of color. Sheree L. Ross (Advisory Board) is an award-winning writer and Wealth Literacy Activist. She is the founder of the popular social media platform Women Filmmakers of Color @womenfilmofcolr with over 18,000 followers on Twitter. Sheree is also the author of Affirming Life - A Daily Meditation and Affirming Business: For Career and Entrepreneurial Excellence. She was a co-writer for the Audible narrative drama, Loops, starring Vivica A. Fox, produced by Migrante Media, and her romantic comedy screenplay, Accidental Hearts, is in development with AdeRisa Productions. Sheree’s passion is around financial and wealth literacy, especially as it pertains to artists of color. She uses her metaphysical practice, business degree, and entrepreneurial background to push thought beyond perceived limitations towards more personal empowerment and success for Black women and queer people of color. Torch Literary Arts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit established to publish and promote creative writing by Black women. We publish contemporary writing by experienced and emerging writers alike. TORCH has featured work by 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. Help TORCH continue to publish and promote Black women writers by donating today.

Angela Redmond-Theodore is a poet whose work is inspired and influenced by her cultural and familial Ancestors. She earned an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Tampa. Her poetry has appeared in The North American Review, The Comstock Review, The Tishman Review, Obsidian, and Aquifer: The Florida Review Online. In the west central community where she and her husband reside, she is known as a teller of stories—African folktales and the narratives of those who survived the horrors of enslavement. She is a proud member of the African American Heritage Society of East Pasco County (Florida) and the National Association of Black Storytellers, among other organizations. Old Blood, Still Running If our memories are blood all this time, all this time like the rivers, the ancient rivers all this time, all this time the Nile silted with our grandeur all this time, all this time the Congo carving secrets all this time, all this time the Mississippi daring us all this time, all this time If our memories are rivers, the oceans should speak our minds by now our children should know their names by now we should know where we stand by now All this time, all this time, all this time ### Torch Literary Arts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit established to publish and promote creative writing by Black women. We publish contemporary writing by experienced and emerging writers alike. TORCH has featured work by 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. Help TORCH continue to publish and promote Black women writers by donating today.

Jones is the founder of the Austin Project—a collective of Global Majority women and allies who use art for personal and social transformation, and Professor Emerita from the African and African Diaspora Studies Department at the University of Texas at Austin. Torch Literary Arts is thrilled to announce Omi Osun Joni L. Jones has been elected to the board of directors. An experienced and celebrated artist, performer, author, and scholar, Jones's expertise will help guide the organization and fulfill its mission to support emerging and experienced Black women writers across genres. Omi Osun Joni L. Jones brings Black Feminist praxis and theatrical jazz principles to her artmaking, scholarship, and facilitation. Her original performances include sista docta, a critique of academic life, and Searching for Ọ̀ṣun, an ethnographic performance installation around the Divinity of the River. Her dramaturgical work includes August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean and Shay Youngblood’s Shakin’ the Mess Outta Misery—both under the direction of Daniel Alexander Jones, as well as Sharon Bridgforth’s con flama under the direction of Laurie Carlos. Her most recent book is Theatrical Jazz: Performance, Àṣẹ, and the Power for the Present Moment. She the founder of the Austin Project—a collective of Global Majority women and allies who use art for personal and social transformation. Omi holds a Ph.D. from New York University and an Embodied Social Justice Certificate from Transformative Change. She has been shaped by Robbie McCauley’s activist art, Laurie Carlos’s insistence on being present, and Barbara Ann Teer’s overt union of Art and Spirit. Omi is Professor Emerita from the African and African Diaspora Studies Department at the University of Texas at Austin, a mother, a Queer wife, and a curious sojourner. Torch Literary Arts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit established to publish and promote creative writing by Black women. We publish contemporary writing by experienced and emerging writers alike. TORCH has featured work by 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. Help TORCH continue to publish and promote Black women writers by donating today.

Thompson is the author of four books: Beyond the Black Lady: Sexuality and the New African American Middle Class (University of Illinois Press, 2009), Single Black Female (Samuel French, 2012), Underground, Monroe, and The Mamalogues: Three Plays (Northwestern University Press, 2020), and The Mamalogues (Samuel French, 2021). Photo by Gordon Lewis Lisa B. Thompson’s satirical comedies, poignant dramas, and engaging scholarship examine stereotypes about Black life in the US, particularly the experiences of the Black middle class. The artist/scholar is the author of four books: Beyond the Black Lady: Sexuality and the New African American Middle Class (University of Illinois Press, 2009), Single Black Female (Samuel French, 2012), Underground, Monroe, and The Mamalogues: Three Plays (Northwestern University Press, 2020), and The Mamalogues (Samuel French, 2021). She has published articles and reviews in Theatre Journal, Journal of American Drama, Theatre Survey, NPR, Criterion Collection, Clutch, Huffington Post and The Washington Post. Thompson’s plays have been produced Off-Broadway, throughout the US, and internationally by Crossroads Theatre, Theatre Rhinoceros, the Vortex, The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, Soul Rep Theatre Company, Austin Playhouse, Ensemble Theatre, Chiswick Playhouse, and The National Black Theatre Festival among others. Visit her website and follow her on Twitter and Instagram. A PDF version of Lisa B. Thompson's play "Watch" can be read here. Published with author's permission. The Interview Conducted via Zoom in November 2022 by Amanda Johnston. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. What's your earliest memory of the theater? I remember attending shows with my mother in San Francisco. She found free or low-cost artistic events at museums, cultural centers, Stern Grove, and the Opera House. It was just amazing. I also remember different theatre troupes visiting my elementary school to perform during assemblies. They blew me away. Did you grow up in San Francisco? Is that where you were born? Yes, I grew up in San Francisco. I was born there and grew up during the height of the Black population in the city. Gentrification has changed the landscape significantly since then. Did you perform? Were you in the theatre? Oh, yeah! I was in school plays and Sunday school productions. I remember doing a Christmas play in elementary school where I was Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It was a good time. But in high school, the drama club did “Our Town” and I was The Stage Manager who served as the play’s narrator. It was a big role. That’s when I realized that I really preferred writing and being the one in the back working with a director on the show. I also like creating my own work. I believe that experience steered me into being a writer versus being a performer. I liked the power and the control behind the scenes. Did you always know you wanted to be a playwright? I knew I wanted to be a writer. As a child, my brother and I decided to write stories and I have been writing stories ever since. In third grade, I would tell people I wanted to be a writer and started writing a novel, I believe it was called The Mystery Gang. When I was in junior high school, I discovered the Black Arts Movement and began writing poetry and sharing it with my friends. So yeah, I always wanted to write. Didn't know what else would come of it. This year, we saw you your directorial debut with “Dot” by Colman Domingo. Congratulations! What was it like to bring his work to life in this new role? Thank you! For me, directing “Dot” was such a moment of narrative elegance. “Single Black Female” was the first play that I wrote that was produced. It was staged in San Francisco at Theatre Rhinoceros when I was a grad student at Stanford and the person who directed it was Colman Domingo. I believe it was the first play that he directed that wasn't his own work. That his play “Dot” was the first play I directed was just perfect. Lisa Scheps, who runs a Ground Floor Theatre, interviewed me for her radio show and she asked if I ever thought about directing and if I were going to direct anything, what would it be? And I just looked at her and said Colman Domingo's “Dot.” It just came out of me. “Dot” is a very special show because it's partly inspired by the story of my family and other friends of Colman Domingo’s who dealt with dementia in their families. As a director, how did you make choices when it came to the emotional resonance of the piece? We talked a lot about what was coming up emotionally for people. I really tried to create safe spaces for the cast to talk through just how challenging it is to deal with any kind of illness in the family. We also leaned into the comedy and joy in the show, too. I wanted to make sure it’s like life with all those things happening at once. It’s not all problems all the time. There are also a lot of funny and sweet moments as well. What's your dream team? Can you name your dream team of directors and actors you would love to work with? The folks that I have worked with and continue to work with are wonderful. People like Taji Senior who performed in the piece TORCH is publishing to accompany our interview. I have a new piece I'm working on right now called The Black Feminist Guide to the Human Body, which is a performance art piece with movement and music. I'm working with director Sally Jo Finney and composer Guthrie P. Ramsey. I collaborated with Ramsey on my first music. One of the songs debuted at an event at The New School in September 2022. I also love working with Sadé Jones, an amazing choreographer who's here in Austin. I'm looking forward to having movement involved in this new show. The Black Feminist Guide to the Human Body will open in Austin in April 2024 at the Fuse Box Festival. It will also go on for a couple more performances at The Vortex. The National Performance Network supported Rolling World Premiere will include a production at the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre in San Francisco, and at the Phoenix Theatre in Des Moines Iowa. I’d love to work with Jeffrey Wright, and Viola Davis, and be in the writers’ room with Donald Glover. I would love to work with Ava DuVernay, too. There are a lot of people I admire, a lot of Black artists, both in performance as well as Black scholars. I think it's an amazing time also to be a Black scholar and I feel fortunate to be able to have both of those worlds. I've been fortunate to work with people I really like and admire and learn from and who are generous, caring, and kind and happened to have become superstars. “Monroe,” the first play I wrote as a graduate student starred Sterling K. Brown and Ryan Michelle Bathe. Colman Domingo directed my play Single Black Female in San Francisco, LA, and New York. But I hope people realize there are also many people that nobody knows about that are a dream to work with and have incredible talent. We should create opportunities to support all Black artists. Do you feel like your scholarly work informs your creative work? Where do you find yourself between balancing your creative writing and your scholarly writing? They definitely inform each other, and I love being able to contribute in both ways. I call myself an artist/scholar. And the line between the two things is porous and they definitely feed each other. I'm fortunate to be in a profession where I can bring all my selves and not have to worry about it. As I'm developing work, I often allow students to be part of that experience, be physically present, and “see how the gumbo is made” so to speak. I also work with former students, like Rudy Ramirez, who says I bury Easter eggs in the text of my work. If you know Black studies and know Black history and culture, you'll notice them whether it's an address, an important historical date, or the name of a character. In January 2022 you launched Black Austin Matters on KUT with Richard Reddick. Tell us about what sparked this project and what you hope listeners will take away from it. Richard Reddick posted a tweet about the fact that “Black Austin Matters” was painted on a street downtown. He wrote that we should have a talk about what it means to be Black in Austin. He then tagged a bunch of people including me and I sat on it all day. No one was responding so I decided to respond, and I tagged KUT and said let's really talk about it. I was adamant that we should not have a one-off special conversation about Blacks in a moment of trauma. Instead, I wanted to have a sustained conversation about Black life in Austin so people would hear from their neighbors, friends, and colleagues that are Black and live in Austin. It's true the Black population in Austin is diminishing, but Black people are still here. However, do people know who they are? The idea of Black Austin as monolithic is something we wanted to get away from as well. We didn't want it to be us responding in a moment of our despair. We wanted a consistent conversation about our life and the world. I'm happy we’re on the air twice a month during Moring Edition and in the afternoon during All Things Considered on Austin’s NPR station. I’m also glad that there are full podcast recordings people can go back and listen to. I'm proud of what we've done – we’ve created a time capsule, an archive of Black Austin with this podcast. You have incredible guests on the show. Local artists, scholars, activists, and more. Can you tell us about an especially memorable or surprising guest? We had so many great folks as guests for the podcast. A lot of people comment about hearing Joe Harper Jr., the barber, and people are also really smitten by our first interviewees, the Delcos, Wilhelmina Delco, and Dr. Exalton Delco. Mrs. Delco was the first Black person elected to the Austin ISD Board of Trustees and the first Black person elected to be a Travis County representative. Dr. Delco was the first Black person to receive a Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Texas. We wanted to make sure we started with those pioneers in Austin. I also really loved having Riders Against the Storm because you see them pushing music and cultural politics in new ways. Their song “Holy Water” is our theme music for the first season. Our final interview of the season is the two of us [Thompson and Reddick] interviewing each other. We're coming up on the holiday season. Do you have any traditions you're looking forward to? Oh, yes! I love to make gumbo and pecan pie. I’m really looking forward to more rest this year. I also love writing down what I want to manifest for next year on slips of paper and keeping them in a jar and reading the ones from the past year on New Year's Eve. Yams, greens, or mac-n-cheese. You can only pick one. That's crazy! That’s violence! Well, if I'm cooking, they're all good, but I gotta do mac-n-cheese. I'm looking forward to that. I haven't made it in a while and I'm making it for my family. The weather here in Austin is finally getting cooler. Are you a fan of sweater weather or are you trying to get to warmer climates? I'm from California, the Bay area, so I'm used to layers. Right now, I’m wearing my Black cardigan with a turtleneck, and I love it. I love all the seasons. How can people support you now? Oh, that's a great question. I really appreciate what everyone does for me already. Those who can sponsor and greenlight projects should do so. Those who can see the work should come out. And when you do come out, social media posts are important. Many people don’t realize that. When other people see that Instagram or Facebook post, they're going to want to come out as well. Whether you are someone who's going to see the show or buy the book, just passing that information along to other people is helpful. I've been very blessed to be supported. Name another Black woman writer people should read. Alice Childress. Alice Childress’s play "Trouble in Mind" was supposed to be on Broadway before "A Raisin in the Sun." Everybody has focused on Lorraine Hansberry, and she deserves that, but Alice Childress’s play was not originally produced because they wanted her to change part of the show and she refused. It is an amazing show about racism in theatre, so it's funny that they tried to have her take out some of the parts that depicted racism. It’s important for people to know about who's come before so we can honor those folks and learn from their experiences and their work. There are so many Black women writers that are underappreciated. Jessie Fauset is another writer I love from Harlem Renaissance. Her novel Plum Bum is fantastic. I am happy we get to enjoy the fruits of the work others like Childress and Fauset have planted. ### Torch Literary Arts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit established to publish and promote creative writing by Black women. We publish contemporary writing by experienced and emerging writers alike. TORCH has featured work by 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. Help TORCH continue to publish and promote Black women writers by donating today.

Multidisciplinary artist, Dawn Okoro has been featured in Harper’s Bazaar, Architectural Digest, Hyperallergic, USA Today, W Magazine, and Essence. Dawn Okoro is a multidisciplinary artist living in Austin, Texas. Her desire to make art sparked from her love of fashion illustration and design. Her work is influenced by punk, hip-hop, and the composition techniques used in fashion photography. Okoro has collaborated with Pepsico, with her art on the company’s LIFEWTR water bottles. Okoro’s work has been on set for productions at NBC, Sony Pictures, HBO, and BET. She is featured in Harper’s Bazaar, Architectural Digest, Hyperallergic, USA Today, W Magazine, and Essence. Okoro’s work was recently exhibited at Christie’s New York, and she made her UK debut with her solo exhibition, “Mad Explosive Spontaneity” at Maddox Gallery. Visit Okoro's website and follow her on Instagram and Twitter. Vamps and Riffs, acrylic and gold leaf on canvas, 36x36 inches, 2022 Unbounded, acrylic and silver leaf on canvas, 40x60 inches, 2022 Reminiscence, acrylic and gold leaf on canvas, 36x36 inches, 2022 Hydrokinesis, acrylic and gold leaf on canvas, 40x60 inches, 2022 Hang On, acrylic and copper leaf on canvas, 40x60 inches, 2022 Audrey in Pink, acrylic and gold leaf on canvas, 20x20 inches, 2022 Artist Statement: I use fashion as a means of aesthetic expression and resistance. My work incorporates ideas from hip-hop and punk culture and is informed by the compositional techniques used in fashion photography. My art embodies space, movement, pattern, design, texture, and color, as well as lived experiences and self-reflexivity. Self-reflexivity is a process by which I critically examine the experiences (exterior and interior) that shape my everyday life and those that surround me. Through my work, I aim to celebrate human differences and commonalities. I often feel like an outsider, never fitting in. With my paintings, drawings, videos, and fashion, I hold space for myself and others who share a similar experience. The Interview Conducted via email in December 2022 by Amanda Johnston. When did you know you were an artist? I’ve loved creating art since I was a child, but it took many years for me to feel comfortable calling myself an artist. I think after I graduated from law school is when I finally started saying that I am an artist. Instead of practicing law, I decided to reroute and follow my heart. Naming it and claiming it was a big step for me. Tell us about an early defining moment in your career. An early defining moment for me was when I had my solo show, “Punk Noir,” at the George Washington Carver Museum in Austin in 2018. It was the biggest solo show that I’d had, and it was amazing to receive such positive feedback from the Austin community and from people all over the world. Your portraits are full of movement. From large sweeping motions to subtle gestures, the subjects in your pieces are vibrant and full of life. What was your thought process behind capturing them in this way as opposed to traditional stills? I have been inspired by fashion editorials since I was a kid and that shows in my portraits. I think that the sense of movement, color, and patterns in my work can be impactful in different ways. You’ve incorporated unexpected materials such as Kool-Aid and gold leaf in your pieces along with acrylic paint and pencil. With each having different meanings and values across cultures, I’m curious if they held a specific intention for you and why you chose to include them in your work. I first painted with Kool-Aid in my 2021 series “Stir It.” “Stir It” is a series of pieces that recount my efforts to find psychological comfort by recreating experiences associated with pleasant memories. Kool-Aid is a source of comfort for me because it is associated with warm memories of family meals and gatherings. I don’t drink it anymore, but it was interesting to see how the Kool-Aid powder took to the texture of the paper. I started using gold leaf many years ago to refer to my experiences of erasure. I often use metal to obscure parts of the body in my portraits. Sometimes, I will surround my figures with gold or copper leaf because I like the way the warm metal color looks next to brown skin. Your work can be seen in television, film, and has been part of a major campaign for LIFEWTR. Do you feel Black representation, as creator and subject, is improving in mainstream media? Black representation in mainstream media has been increasing in spurts for sure. After the uprising of 2020, many organizations had promised to do better, but 2-3 years later, those efforts seem to be trickling off. You’ve recently ventured into creating NFTs. What has that experience been like? Do you feel more artists will move to include NFTs in their portfolios? I have always been interested in creating art in a digital space. In 2022 created a series called “Freaks and Beams,” which includes physical and digital paintings. The physical paintings are made with a pigment that glows under black light. This is reflected in the NFT art too. Each NFT has a daytime version that starts at dawn and a nighttime version that starts at sunset. What I am really interested in though, is using an NFT as a certificate of authenticity for my physical paintings. There are some companies out there that are experimenting with making that possible. I do believe more artists will start to incorporate NFTs into their work, but the technology has to become something they feel comfortable with. It’s going to take time. You are active on social media and you’ve shared your progress in learning to skateboard with followers. What advice would you give to others thinking of trying the sport? I’m still learning and having so much fun seeing my progression. It’s been great for me mentally and physically. I hope I’ll be jumping over things with the skateboard in the next few months. If you are interested in skateboarding, the best way to learn is to find a friend that can show you some basics. You can also get some tips on YouTube, but the best way to learn is to get on the board and get comfortable with it. As a local Austinite, what are your favorite spots to eat, chill, and see the best contemporary art? One of my favorite places to eat is Hoover’s Cooking because I love soul food. One of the best places to see art in town is the George Washington Carver Museum. You can choose one of the following: tacos or barbecue. Barbecue. My favorite bbq spot in Central Texas is Cooper’s. What are you looking forward to in 2023? I am looking forward to making new work and experimenting with different materials. How can people support you now? People can support me by telling their friends about my work. I also have paintings available through Maddox Gallery. Name another Black woman artist people should follow. Tyeschea West is a talented Austin-based artist who works in photography and other media. ### Torch Literary Arts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit established to publish and promote creative writing by Black women. We publish contemporary writing by experienced and emerging writers alike. TORCH has featured work by 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. Help TORCH continue to publish and promote Black women writers by donating today.

Award-winning author of Golden Ax (Penguin Books), which was longlisted for the 2022 National Book Award in Poetry. Rio Cortez is the author of the debut poetry collection, Golden Ax (Penguin Books), which was longlisted for the 2022 National Book Award in Poetry. She is also the author of New York Times bestselling picture book, The ABCs of Black History (Workman Kids), and the forthcoming picture book The River Is My Sea (S&S/Denene Millner Books). Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and The Miami Rail, among other places. Visit her website and follow her on Instagram. As Cain Until 1978, Mormons maintained that in a spiritual “preexistence,” Blacks were neutral bystanders when other spirits chose sides during a fight between God and Lucifer. For that failure of courage, they were condemned to become the accursed descendants of Cain. I think of the earth that drank Abel’s blood as I uproot foxtail from the garden. Earth, not passive, but cursed by God, having accepted death, and maybe, even, hoped to grow from it. And Cain said to Abel, “Let us go to the field.” I cut my own thumb on a weed. I carry out a strict ritual of healing: cold hose water and then most Holy: mouth. Tell me, what mark has God given me? I am paraphrasing here when I say God told Cain to rule over his own longing or else restless wanderer shall he be on earth. First curse, then blessing. God’s always changing his mind about us The Interview Your debut full-length poetry collection, Golden Ax, is stunning and deeply rooted in your family’s history. When did you first become interested in your family ancestry? Did you always know you would write about it? Growing up in Utah, family history is really an essential part of the culture of Mormonism. It’s home to the Family Research Library, and some of the most gifted genealogical researchers, so that was one influence. But personally, I think my family’s history became important to me early on, just as a way of sort of explaining my circumstances. The further into my adolescence I got, the more clear my differences were made to me (racially & religiously), and family history became a really natural first line of questioning. Did you discover any surprises about your family while you were writing the book? Yes! Lots, in fact. I think really researching family history, and measuring history against the stories you’re told about who you are, can be really heartbreaking in a way, as much as it can be liberating. So, some things I learned did that for me. One example was letters that I found from my grandfather’s ex-wife; I always thought of their separation one way. And then, it sort of evolved before my eyes through her words on the page. Was there anything you left out of the book that might find its way into another collection? Well, that story about my grandfather! But yes, I do think there is more to tell here, which I am currently working into a lyrical memoir. What do you hope your readers will take away from Golden Ax? I hope readers get a glimpse at what feels like a quiet story in the tapestry that is Black history in America, Black folks and their pivotal role in shaping The West. But I also hope readers encounter language they find exciting and new, different ways of considering lineage, and that they have some fun. You’re also the author of the best-selling children’s book The ABCs of Black History. This book is a bright, inspiring, educational trip through Black history. What moved you to write it and do you think you’ll write more children’s books? Thank you! My editor, Traci Todd, asked me to write a poem about Black history at the perfect time, perfect place in my life. I was pregnant with my daughter and working at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem; so I had this incredible experience of being surrounded by our stories every day, and starting to think of how to tell them in a new way for young minds. And yes! More picture books for sure, I have two lyrical picture books on the horizon with Denene Millner Books, the first one to come out is called The River Is My Sea and will be illustrated by the incredible Ashleigh Corrin. If you could write a poetry collection focused on one historical figure who would it be? Wow, I love this question. I think, a cowboy. Maybe Nat Love. What are your top three must-do activities in Utah? Okay, so, I think you simply must see the Spiral Jetty, which is an earthwork sculpture created in the 1970s by Robert Smithson. It’s like you’re on another planet. And it’s sustainable and changes with our climate, the weather, it’s fascinating. K, then I always drink beer. Surprisingly, Utah has a ton of great microbreweries and it feels like a subversive act in a state with such restrictive liquor laws. And finally, you should hike! Or buy books. I am a big fan of The King’s English, which is an indigenous-owned local staple. It’s the gift-giving season. What’s on your wish list? What I want is time! Haha, just time away from my loving family to write and stare into the sea. But, I also asked for some Brother Vellies shoes when they were hosting their winter sample sale. What’s your favorite winter self-care practice? I’m a scent and light person. I feel like those are big mood-changing elements for me. So I love to burn cedar and open all the curtains or turn on holiday lights alongside a woodsy candle. How can people support you? Buy Golden Ax, please! Name another Black woman writer people should be reading. Just one?! Well, definitely Robin Coste Lewis. I’m no critic, but the words I would use to describe her new collection are “WOW” and “masterpiece”. ### Torch Literary Arts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit established to publish and promote creative writing by Black women. We publish contemporary writing by experienced and emerging writers alike. TORCH has featured work by 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. Help TORCH continue to publish and promote Black women writers by donating today.