The Torch

Fall 2025

In this issue, we gather voices that trace different iterations of longing: longing for connection, validation, forgiveness, and atonement; a longing to feel seen, to feel safe, to protect and be protected. Our contributors explore these themes through sharp satire, tender prose, haunting images, eerie interior monologues, urgent and galvanizing narratives, and quiet musings about human nature. Each piece asks, in its own way, what it means to be part of a shared humanity; each one reckons with the fragile, insistent desire to matter.

It is the continued mission of The Torch to bring our readership a variety of works that will leave them with impressions that linger through moments of recognition and connection. We believe wholeheartedly in the power of art in all its forms to help build and sustain creative community and to create spaces that feel inspiring, safe, open, and joyful. 

Acknowledgements

The staff of The Torchwishes to thank Andre Cutair, Web Content Specialist, for his diligent work in creating the electronic version of this issue. They also wish to thank Prof. Hoke S. Glover III, Chair of Language, Literature, and Cultural Studies, for his support and encouragement, and Dr. Steven Damo, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, for his unfailing support of our students and their efforts.