TORCH was established to promote the work of African American women. We provide a place to publish contemporary poetry, prose, and short stories by experienced and emerging writers alike. We prefer our contributors to take risks and offer a diverse body of work that examines and challenges preconceived notions regarding race, ethnicity, gender roles, and identity.  

Within TORCH, we offer a special section called Flame that features an interview, biography, and work sample by an established writer as well as an introduction to their Spark, an emerging writer who inspires them and adds to the boundless voice of creative writing by Black women.

TORCH is an online publication produced by Torch Literary Arts.

     MISSION

To promote the work of African American women by publishing contemporary poetry, prose, and short stories by experienced and emerging writers alike.

WE BELIEVE  

• We believe that creative writing by Black women is valuable and necessary.
     
• We believe in preserving our literary legacy by working across generations.
  
   
• We believe that supporting creative writing adds to the cross-cultural appreciation of the arts.
   
• We believe in utilizing current technology to connect our work to a broader audience.
   
• We believe in meaningful collaboration based on respect, creativity, and freedom.
   
• We believe in conducting ourselves with integrity and responsiveness in all our interactions.

     STAFF

Amanda Johnston
Editor, Executive Director

Amanda Johnston is a Cave Canem fellow and Affrilachian poet. Honors include 2003 and 2004 Artist Enrichment grants from the Kentucky Foundation for Women and the 2005 Austin International Poetry Festival's Christina Sergeyevna Award.  Johnston has served on the board of directors for the National Women's Alliance, is currently an ensemble member of The Austin Project Performance Company (TAPPCo). She is the founder of Torch Literary Arts and editor of TORCH: poetry, prose, and short stories by African American Women.  

Metta Sáma
Blog Editor

Currently working 2 poetry projects, one (tentatively) titled Dearest Depresseds, Move & the other (tentatively) titled And Then (a 2006 Prairie Schooner Book finalist), Metta Sáma's work examines the ways in which the body, the spirit, the mind, the emotions, the psyche deteriorate, either by (outside) force, by will, and/or by natural forces. She lives in Brooklyn, where she's completing a few (amateur) painting/collage projects and a fiction novella on pornography actresses. Her work has appeared in Kestrel, Blackbird, Crab Orchard Review, Zone 3, The Drunken Boat,
and right here in the inaugural issue of TORCH.

L. Lamar Wilson
Copy Editor

L. Lamar Wilson has copy-edited and reported for The Washington Post, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel & a host of other newspapers in the past decade. The Cave Canem & Callaloo fellow and emerging poet has work in or forthcoming in Rattle, Reverie and Crab Orchard Review.

Ana-Maurine Lara
Staff Writer

Ana-Maurine Lara is an award-winning novelist and playwright. She is a Cave Canem Poetry Fellow and member of The Austin Project: Experiments in the Jazz Aesthetic. Currently she is working on a PhD at Yale University in African American Studies & Anthropology. For more information about Ana-Maurine, visit her website: www.zorashorse.com
 

     Editorial board

Nicole Sealey

Nicole Sealey is an editor and Cave Canem fellow. Her work has appeared in a number of print and online journals. She is the Readings/Workshops and Writers Exchange Program Manager at Poets & Writers, Inc. Nicole lives in New York City.

Niki Herd

Niki Herd has been published in forums such as Reverie: Midwest African American Literature, The Drunken Boat, Just Like A Girl: A Manifesta!, From the Web: A Global Anthology of Women’s Political Poetry, The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South, and Autumnal: A Collection of Elegies on compact disc. Nominated twice for Pushcart Awards in poetry, she lives in Tucson, Arizona, and is a Cave Canem Fellow.

Bianca Spriggs

Bianca Spriggs resides in Lexington, Kentucky where she works as an instructor of composition, literature, and creative writing. She is the creator and programmer of the Gypsy Poetry Slam featured annually at the Kentucky Women Writers Conference.  An Affrilachian Poet and Cave Canem Fellow, Bianca is the author of Kaffir Lily, and her work may be found in the anthologies, New Growth: Recent Kentucky Writings, America! What's My Name? and the journals, Alehouse, Appalachian Heritage Magazine, and the Langston Hughes Colloquy.

Remica L. Bingham

Remica L. Bingham, a native of Phoenix, Arizona, earned an MFA from Bennington College and is a Cave Canem fellow. Among other journals, her work has been published in New Letters, Callaloo, Gulf Coast and Essence. Her first book, Conversion, won the Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award, was published by Lotus Press and shortlisted for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. A book of her selected poems, The Seams of Memory, will be translated into Arabic and published in 2010 in conjunction with the Kalima Project. Currently, she serves as the Writing Competency Coordinator at Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Virginia. For more information on her work and upcoming events visit www.remicalbingham.com.
 

     Board of Directors

Wura-Natasha Ogunji
Chair

Wura-Natasha Ogunji is a visual and performance artist.  She works with thread, stitching drawings into translucent sheets of paper.  In her performance videos she uses bundles of threads, measured in fathoms, as she explores connections to body, land and power.  Ogunji has been an Artist-in-Residence at Can Serrat in Spain and Altos de Chavon in the Dominican Republic.  She has received grants from The Pollock-Krasner Foundation and the Brooklyn Arts Council.  Selected exhibitions include: New American Talent: The 22nd Exhibition (Arthouse at the Jones Center, Austin, TX), and Black Rock: The Metamorphosis of Home from Isolation to Connection Task Force (Gallery Aferro, Newark, NJ).  Ogunji received her Bachelor's degree in Anthropology from Stanford University (1998) and her MFA in Photography from San Jose State University.  She lives in Austin, Texas. 
 

Natasha Harper-Madison
Secretary

Natasha Harper-Madison is a native resident of Austin, Texas. An entrepreneurial spirit and Renaissance woman, Natasha owned and operated a concierge business for 6 years. Currently, Natasha employs her professional experience as an Executive Household Manager in the private sector. A true service heart, Natasha’s love for helping others starts at home with her husband and two wonderful children. She is thrilled to be a part of the Torch family and appreciates being a part of an organization that encourages genuine artistic expression.

Andrea Edgerson
Treasurer

Andrea Edgerson has been in the movement to end domestic and sexual violence for over ten years. In that time Andrea has had the opportunity to work directly with survivors of domestic and sexual violence as well as provide training and education to various community groups on the dynamics of domestic and sexual violence. Andrea is currently a policy analyst at the Texas Council on family violence where her work is primarily focused on legal services and immigration. Andrea is also an actor. She is currently honing her craft and auditioning where she can.