Join us for a conversation featuring Deesha Philyaw, author of The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman, and LaToya Watkins, author of The Book of Chuck! A book signing will follow.
Family legacies are rarely simple, as LaToya Watkins and Deesha Philyaw prove in their latest novels. The Book of Chuck follows a Texas family across generations as they reckon with an inherited ability to foresee death, a curse that forces long buried secrets to the surface. In The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman, Scharisse Freeman's life as a megachurch first lady takes an unexpected turn when a malicious scandal threatens to destroy the carefully curated life she’s built. Join the authors – in conversation with Torch founder Amanda Johnston — for a discussion about belonging, complex family bonds and faith in the unknown.
Deesha Philyaw’s debut short story collection, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the Story Prize, the LA Times Book Prize: The Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction and was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction. Deesha is a Kimbilio Fiction Fellow, a Baldwin for the Arts Fellow, a United States Artists Fellow, and co-host of two podcasts, Ursa Short Fiction (with Dawnie Walton) and Reckon True Stories (with Kiese Laymon). She is currently at work developing TV shows based on her short fiction.
LaToya Watkins is an award-winning author of two books. Her short story collection, Holler, Child, was longlisted for the National Book Award and the winner of Reading the West Book Award in Fiction and the Writer’s League of Texas Book Award in Fiction. Her debut novel, Perish, was published to great acclaim in 2022. LaToya’s writing has appeared in A Public Space, The Sun, McSweeney’s, and the Kenyon Review, among other publications.
This event was made possible with support from the City of Austin, the Burdine Johnson Foundation, the Austin Community Foundation, and the Texas Book Festival.
Won't you celebrate with us?
Please consider donating to support Torch and help fuel our flame for generations to come.
Celebrate Herstory
$25.00 - Celebrate the vast contributions of Black women writers throughout history.
Winner's Circle
$50.00 - Celebrate Torch receiving the inaugural AWP Writing Organization Award in 2025.
Features
$75.00 - Torch Magazine has featured emerging and established writers, including LaToya Watkins, Lisa B. Thompson, Debora DEEP Mouton, Ebony Stewart, and Andrea Vocab Sanderson.
Trailblazer
$100.00 - Honor how Torch helps to light a path for Black women writers to have their voices, stories, and perspectives heard and held here in the U.S. and abroad. Torch Magazine has been recognized by the Pushcart Prize Best of the Small Presses.
About This Event
Join us for a conversation featuring Deesha Philyaw, author of The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman, and LaToya Watkins, author of The Book of Chuck! A book signing will follow.
Family legacies are rarely simple, as LaToya Watkins and Deesha Philyaw prove in their latest novels. The Book of Chuck follows a Texas family across generations as they reckon with an inherited ability to foresee death, a curse that forces long buried secrets to the surface. In The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman, Scharisse Freeman's life as a megachurch first lady takes an unexpected turn when a malicious scandal threatens to destroy the carefully curated life she’s built. Join the authors – in conversation with Torch founder Amanda Johnston — for a discussion about belonging, complex family bonds and faith in the unknown.
Deesha Philyaw’s debut short story collection, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the Story Prize, the LA Times Book Prize: The Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction and was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction. Deesha is a Kimbilio Fiction Fellow, a Baldwin for the Arts Fellow, a United States Artists Fellow, and co-host of two podcasts, Ursa Short Fiction (with Dawnie Walton) and Reckon True Stories (with Kiese Laymon). She is currently at work developing TV shows based on her short fiction.
LaToya Watkins is an award-winning author of two books. Her short story collection, Holler, Child, was longlisted for the National Book Award and the winner of Reading the West Book Award in Fiction and the Writer’s League of Texas Book Award in Fiction. Her debut novel, Perish, was published to great acclaim in 2022. LaToya’s writing has appeared in A Public Space, The Sun, McSweeney’s, and the Kenyon Review, among other publications.
This event was made possible with support from the City of Austin, the Burdine Johnson Foundation, the Austin Community Foundation, and the Texas Book Festival.
Won't you celebrate with us?
Please consider donating to support Torch and help fuel our flame for generations to come.
Celebrate Herstory
$25.00 - Celebrate the vast contributions of Black women writers throughout history.
Winner's Circle
$50.00 - Celebrate Torch receiving the inaugural AWP Writing Organization Award in 2025.
Features
$75.00 - Torch Magazine has featured emerging and established writers, including LaToya Watkins, Lisa B. Thompson, Debora DEEP Mouton, Ebony Stewart, and Andrea Vocab Sanderson.
Trailblazer
$100.00 - Honor how Torch helps to light a path for Black women writers to have their voices, stories, and perspectives heard and held here in the U.S. and abroad. Torch Magazine has been recognized by the Pushcart Prize Best of the Small Presses.
Getting There
Texas Capitol - Auditorium
1100 Congress Ave.
Austin, Texas 78701
United States
