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.
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