A three-month community writing journey from Put It In A Book + Black Pearl Books culminating with a published anthology
Facilitated by Amanda Johnston,
Founder/Executive Director at Torch Literary Arts
Amanda Johnston is a writer, visual artist, and the 61st Poet Laureate of Texas. She earned an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Southern Maine. She is the author of two chapbooks, GUAP and Lock & Key, as well as the full-length collection Another Way to Say Enter. She is also the editor of the anthology Praisesong for the People: Poems from the Heart and Soul of Texas. Her work has appeared in numerous online and print publications, among them Callaloo, Poetry Magazine, The Moth Radio Hour, Bill Moyers, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. She has received fellowships, grants, and awards from Cave Canem, Hedgebrook, Tasajillo, the Kentucky Foundation for Women, The Watermill Center, American Short Fiction, and the Academy of American Poets.
WELCOME! Thank you for visiting our page to learn more about Put Your Story in a Book, a Put It In A Book Community Writing Project. Put It In A Book is the non-profit partner of Black Pearl Books, Austin’s only Black-owned bookstore.
Free to attend
Put Your Story In A Book: A Community Writing Project was born from the belief that every voice matters — and that storytelling is one of the most powerful tools we have for healing, connection, and cultural preservation. By gathering together monthly at The Torch Center, participants will create a space that embodies resilience and creativity. The setting itself becomes part of the story - a living symbol of Black entrepreneurship, community, and literary legacy.
Monthly meetups
In a time when division and erasure often dominate our public narratives, Put Your Story In A Book: A Community Writing Project offers something rare to find nowadays: a space to remember, to speak, and to be seen. It honors the idea that storytelling is not only an art form, but also an act of social justice — a way to claim space, preserve identity, and build bridges between people who might never have met otherwise.
All backgrounds welcome
Many participants will come to Put Your Story In A Book: A Community Writing Project without having ever called themselves “writers.” Some may carry stories shaped by displacement, racism, or invisibility; others may come simply wanting to capture a family history or preserve a personal moment before it’s forgotten. Through writing prompts, mentorship, and shared reflection, they will begin to see that their experiences are not only valid but essential to the collective record of who we are. These gatherings will become more than workshops — they become community circles, where listening is as powerful as writing. Each voice strengthens another. Each shared story chips away at silence.
Every community holds stories that rarely make it into the history books — stories of migration and resilience, of neighborhood transformation, of love, loss, and joy. Yet the people who live these stories often lack access to the spaces, mentorship, or encouragement to write them down.
