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.

This generous grant will support the launch of the TORCH Retreat in 2023. The Tingari-Silverton Foundation is an international foundation committed to honoring, nurturing and supporting innovators, entrepreneurs and organizations whose products, services or processes make the world a better place. Torch Literary Arts is grateful for this grant to help fulfill our mission to create advancement opportunities for Black women writers. Funding will support the creation of a week-long retreat in Austin, TX where Black women writers will receive space and time to rest and write freely. Details and application information will be made available in February of 2023. Subscribe to TORCH's newsletter for updates and announcements. 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 Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses series, published every year since 1976, is considered one of the most important publishing projects in American history (Publishers Weekly). Learn more about the prize here. We are thrilled to announce the following TORCH nominees: POEMS “Driving east on I-40, Aida is in the backseat staring out the window while the three of us sing along to Mary J. Blige’s “You Remind Me,” not thinking about the lyrics.” by Benin Lemus “swole” by Dana Tenille Weekes “Some Collective Nouns for Black Girls/What We Call Our Selves When We Are Alone/What We Named Our Young Selves in the Grimy Club Bathroom Where We Became Sisters” by Zoë Gadegbeku “Self Portrait as Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy in the Style of Gentileschi” by Kameryn Alexa Carter SHORT STORIES “But Did You Die?” by Shinelle L. Espaillat “Never Not Broken” by Clynthia Burton Graham ### 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 Toi Derricotte, 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.

Help TORCH amplify Black women writers today, tomorrow, and for generations to come! GivingTuesday is a global generosity movement. In the United States, GivingTuesday is locally-led in over 240 communities, networks, and coalitions. Torch Literary Arts is proud to join the many organizations doing important work to positively impact the world. Your support helps TORCH provide vital programs for emerging and experienced Black women writers. Our programs include paid publishing opportunities on TorchLiteraryArts.org, our Wildfire Reading Series that partners with local independent bookstores to showcase notable authors, creative writing and professional development workshops, and our new week-long retreat launching in summer 2023 in Austin, TX. Every bit helps us fulfill our mission to publish, promote, and create advancement opportunities for Black women writers. Please consider giving any amount to help us reach our goal of $15,000 in individual giving for 2022. Thank you for supporting Torch Literary Arts! 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 Toi Derricotte, 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.

Clynthia Burton Graham is a fiction writer whose creative muse is forged from an amalgamation of a New England upbringing- steeped in ghost stories and folk lore- mixed with the raucous chatter of her grandmothers and five aunts sitting at the kitchen table as well as her father’s booming Sunday sermons. Pool these together with being a child of the Black Power Sixty’s and 30 years of working with inner city children and families you understand the timeless elements of love, humor, and drama in her prose. Her work is centered on Black female characters who strive for their definitions of love, life, and light. The utilization of their voices and experiences are rooted in her growing up with the lack of Black female protagonist in the books of her youth. She is grateful for landing in one of the most extraordinary Black Mecca’s for creatives, Baltimore, MD. It is the perfect place to fulfill her exploration of black life, past and present, within an incredible thriving artistic community. Her work has been recognized by the Hurston/Wright Foundation and the Maryland Writers Association, as well as published in Persimmon Tree Literary Magazine, Auburn Avenue, Rigorous Magazine, and many others. Never Not Broken I am mesmerized by his unflinching brokenness. He stares out of the barred windows with static brown eyes flecked with unfallen tears. His drooping head causes his long matted dreadlocks to lay upon his left shoulder. There is no furrow in his brow and his full lips sag at the corners. Jonah is an unmoored vessel undulating between the ether and the loam. My eyes trace the prominent veins running through his hands in anticipation of touching him. When I arrived at Haven Behavioral Health Hospital, I overheard the loam is where Jonah laid after being mistakenly shot because he fit the description. He died, then came back, left the hospital with a clean bill of physical health, and landed here with a clinical diagnosis of akinetic catatonia. I abhor maladies of the soul being categorized. It infers there is a manufactured cure capable of enabling an unburdened walk through this nebulous life-to-death cycle. Just ingest a cocktail of drugs. Listen to repetitive dispassionate words then regurgitate them or have your brain electrified, and “Voila!” Straight bull. Inside this imperfect world focused on perfection in all things and at all costs, the vital synergy between broken and unbroken states is best regenerated by the primal power of touch. This communion of souls penetrates blood and bone until light can be seen without the fog of tears. It is why I am in this enclave of fractured souls. Here I will add to my specialty unwalled collection of people. You see, I also gather broken things. Armless dolls. Toppled bird’s nests. Flattened animal appendages. Where others see nothing of value, I see treasure. From my precious cache, I create splendiferous mosaics exemplifying the beauty of fusion. In my living room, wall striations of my work surround a large painting of the Hindu Goddess Akhiladeshvari, whose name means, never-not-broken. Several years ago, I found her atop eviction belongings under weighted clouds right before the onset of a drenching rain. Her tenet sang to me and like droplets of water on thirsty petals she nourished and validated my ideals. My attention turns from Jonah to Mazel when she grabs the handles of his wheelchair. Before she can push him away, I shoot out my foot to block her. “Ayla, get out the way. You know dern well this man don’t talk. Why you keep pushing up on him?” “Just trying to get to know him,” I respond. “And as I keep telling you. You’re a patient, not a doctor or a savior. Anyway, go get dressed for your one-on-one with Dr. Feaster and fix your glasses.” “Will do, Sargent.” Mazel smiles. Her slender pink-painted lips curl upwards igniting a light blush to spread across her high yellow cheekbones. She is no nurse ratchet, but she runs a tight ship. Still, I lay my hand atop Jonah’s hand, resting in his lap, and I feel it. The alternate interior angles of our parallel lines are equal, which allows an entry point between us. A submerged ball of pain, rejection, and confusion ripples under my fingertips. I try to nudge it, as was done to me once by an old black woman with deep veined hands wizened by the many lives before her, but Mazel jerks the chair backwards. “Come on Ayla. Move.” I apologize, then rise enough to whisper in his ear, “It’s okay to stay in that place for now. Just know we are never not broken. You must learn to flow like water through rocks.” Mazel clucks her tongue before pushing him out of the community room towards the hallway. She stops at the door to yell back, “Fix your glasses.” I leave my spectacles askew, preferring to leave the straight gaze for others requiring a linear view of life. An hour passes with the stretch of an endless mountain range in my monastic room. Finally, Mazel rushes in to hurry me to my session. My lackadaisical movements are not those of a petulant child, but rather a battle-weary soldier. I grab my sketchpad to help me endure Dr. Feaster’s inquisitive and unrelenting diatribe. It is our second meeting, so I must be ready to stifle his fruitless ambitions. The loud tick of the clock on the wall signals me to begin my hour countdown after I sit in a smooth olive-green armchair opposite Dr. Feaster. He clears his throat to draw my attention. This causes me to inwardly giggle since I’ve decided I’m not off the rails in thinking he looks like a villain. A thick black and gray handlebar mustache sweeps out over his thin lips. His egg-shaped bald head, beady pale blue eyes, and the grayish pallor to his skin. He reminds me of a vampire, but as far as I’m concerned he is a different kind of sucker. “So, Ayla, how are you today?” “Fit as a fiddle, Dr. Fester.” “Now Ayla, you know my name is Dr. Feaster. In any case, I spoke with your foster parent, Helen. She told me some interesting and troubling things about you that you haven’t shared. I’d like you to open up and tell me about your life.” “How did you find my surrogate mother, Dr. Freud?” “Feaster. You were a ward of the state. Quite easy to find information about you.” “What did she tell you that perked your interest?” “Many things. Like your husband’s death three years ago after an accidental shooting in your home.” “I see.” “You also didn’t tell me your parents were killed in a car crash when you were five years old and you had no family member able to care for you.” “Um hum.” “Ayla, these are devastating things. Things that can break people.” “I’ve already told you I’m broken. We all are.” “We need to examine these events in your life.” “Does examining matter?” “Yes. This way we may get to the crux of why you were walking in moving traffic. Were you trying to harm yourself? Sometimes people do things to bring attention to their pain.” “I told you I was trying to reach something I thought I saw on the road.” “Do you remember anything about your relationship with your parents? Maybe snippets of dreams you’ve had about them or how you felt about them?” “Ah, Freud it is. Dreams and mothers.” Before he can continue, muddled confusion and screams fill the corridor outside of his office. After multiple beseeching cries of, “Calm down Karen. Let’s get you back to your room,” Dr. Feaster excuses himself to walk out into the chaos. I stay in my seat knowing Karen, the latest patient to enter the hospital, will fail at her much-talked-about escape plan, unlike my successful strategy to get into Haven. In my neighborhood, the “gentrificationers” had created a scarcity of fodder for my collections. They had come to erect a new Eden for those with less melanin in their skin tones and more green in their pockets. With their advance, they halted the rhythm of city kids splashing laughter inside old-school southern greetings riding atop the bop of trap music trailing from cars. Culture and community became ghosts' memories. And then came the pandemic solidifying the apocalyptic, albeit pristine, barrenness of the once colorful and vibrant series of city blocks.. So, a month ago, I came up with a plan to walk into the street amidst moving cars to remedy my loss of collectibles. The cops were called, as I assumed they would be, and I was taken away to the nearest hospital, assessed, then brought here for further psychiatric evaluation. A harried Dr. Feaster comes back into the room and plops into his chair disrupting my quiet reflection. “Sorry about that Ayla. Now, where were we?” “I assume more information from Mama Helen.” “Ah, yes. She also told me you graduated at the top of your class in your undergraduate psychology program and later earned your doctorate in religious studies with a focus on the healing practices of indigenous people. I scanned your dissertation, entitled: Healing without the Drugstore or the Drug Dealer. Very interesting. All quite significant accomplishments by the age of thirty.” “All true.” “Please talk to me about your life, about you.” “Doc, I’m good. Right as rain.” “Are you? The police officers who brought you in took pictures of your collections and the cluttered state of your home. You seem to have a preoccupation with dead or dreadful objects. Why is that?” “You see dead and dreadful. I see beauty and balance. After all, it is the parts of a thing working in tandem that makes it whole. Wouldn’t you agree?” “Yes, I would. Which is why I am asking you to talk about the difficult episodes in your life, so we can get to the crux of what may have developed in your psyche to skew your view of yourself and the world.” Hmm…the crux. But does the origination matter? Damage is just damage whether it comes from your mother or father or whatever causes a soul to separate states of being. For me, I prefer enabling the necessary harmony between the yin and the yang instead of seeking the origin of a fissure and flailing it until all is sunshine and lollipops. And really how long does that last? The streets are full of walking dead, those rehabilitated and then recidivated over and over again. “Well Ayla, it isn’t about curing. It’s about understanding until one is able to manage the manifestations of their troubled soul.” “What’s that quote? Oh yeah, If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, if you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime. I seek to teach and reach through touch and it works not for a day but for all the undulations in a lifetime. So, maybe the real question you should ask yourself is whether you are really helping me and others to cope or if it is just a matter of relegating us to unsustainable functioning conformity and getting handsomely paid to do so?” I feel the hard press of his expensive pen on the page of his leather-bound notebook. He is distressed, noted by the upward tilt of his head and his eyes rolling across the ceiling, while he sifts through his mental index cards for the right lure to reel me in. I smile, then scratch my kinky “needs moisturizing” scalp and wait for the last tick of the hour. “Well, our time is up. We’ll pick up our discussion next week. Please think about talking to me in depth about the traumas in your life. I am eager to advocate for your reentry back into the outside world. With your knowledge of psychology, you know how important it is for someone to open up for needed help after trauma, especially multiple life trauma and that is what I believe we have here. Chickens have come home to roost, per se.” For a scant second, I think about all the “dead chickens” in my life. In silence, I note that is the point. They aren’t coming back. Not with a magic pill nor with a rote series of words. Life is a question mark at every given moment except for the finality of death. “No need to rush me, Doc. Plenty of time to find my diagnosis and heal me.” He smiles as I close my sketchpad, rise, and walk towards the door with a matching grin. The hall is empty as I head to my room to wait for the ring of the dinner bell. With plenty of time to divest myself of today’s therapy session, I prance down the hallways much like a dog shaking off the drench of rain. Late afternoon is evident with waning fall sunlight trickling through the large, barred windows. Shadows creep across the faded blue walls of the community room as patients shuffle in for another unremarkable meal. I get a surprise when I am directed to sit next to Jonah. “I told Dr. Feaster about you pestering this poor man. He suggested sitting you next to him. I guess wishes do come true,” says Mazel with a not wicked but amused laugh. She puts a child’s twenty-five-piece puzzle box on the table between him and I before firing her parting words, “Let’s see if you can put it together as fast as Jesus could.” It is the end of my second week at the hospital, and I have the object of my attention next to me. His gaze is still averted, but I am overjoyed to look into his unfocused eyes. I grab a napkin and wipe a thread of drool from the corner of his mouth, then pick up a puzzle piece. I slide each piece to him, wait for a response, then lay my hand on his before drawing it back and placing it into its perfectly carved space. I do this until the jigsaw is complete. Looking at Jonah, I say, “There it’s done. They are all connected. The easy ones and the hard ones make a whole picture. Just like you will be. I know you can hear me, but I need to know you feel me?” As I wait for a sign from him the day room erupts with chaotic movement. I turn from Jonah to see Clara sailing around the room with one of her many dream catchers. Turquoise and black feathers flutter intoxicated by the breezy flow of air. Brash ceiling lights imbue the glassy beads, intricately woven into the webbed core, with an iridescent glow. Almost every eye in the room is following the colorful trail except Jonah. He remains the quiet eye within the maelstrom. Several moments pass as staff chase Claire with clumsy ferocity. Patient shrieks and laughter elevate the confusion. Just before she is tackled her eyes meet mine and she hard pedal stops, sits at my table, then puts the dreamcatcher on her lap. I lay my hand on hers like I had on my third day here and feel the deceleration of her pulse and the fragments of her fractured state continuing to meld. I look up and around at all the bountiful treasures waiting for my touch. Out of the corner of my eye I see Claire pick up a puzzle piece from the table and place it back into the space I’d already laid it in. I turn to gaze at Jonah. His fixed stance remains the same, but then I notice the slight brushing of his thumb against his index finger. I smile inside the swell of an old English nursery rhyme my mother used to sing to me. It twirls around and around in my head. Mistress Mary, Quite contrary, How does your garden grow? With Silver Bells, And Cockle Shells, And so my garden grows. ### 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 Toi Derricotte, 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.