Join us for the Dallas launch of Once Wild, the debut short story collection by s b del llano. The evening will feature a reading and conversation with writers Susan Ayotte Norman and LaToya Watkins, followed by cake and a book signing.
Once Wild, published by High Frequency Press, is a collection of literary fiction exploring identity, survival, and the universal dimensions of humanity. Moving across cultures and landscapes, these stories examine what it means to endure, transform, and remain connected to the wildness within us.
About the participants
s b del llano was raised among Indigenous peoples and multicultural communities in the mountains, foothills, and jungles of Colombia. He moved to the United States at seventeen to pursue his education, earning a BA in literature in Chicago, a Master of Liberal Arts at Southern Methodist University, and a PhD in Humanities and Writing at the University of Texas at Dallas. A writer, poet, and educator, his fiction, poetry, and nonfiction have appeared in The New Guard, Sojourn, Hindsight Journal, and Reunion: The Dallas Review. He lives in Dallas and New York City.
Susan Ayotte Norman is a fiction writer from Dallas and holds a PhD from the University of Texas at Dallas in Narrative Theory and American Literature. She teaches Academic Writing and leads the Hilltop Scholars Program at Southern Methodist University. Her short fiction has appeared in TLR: The Literary Review and the anthology Her Texas: Story, Image, and Song, and has been featured in Short Edition’s international short story vending machines.
LaToya Watkins is the award-winning author of two books. Her short story collection, Holler, Child, was longlisted for the National Book Award and won the Reading the West Book Award and the Writers’ League of Texas Book Award in Fiction. Her debut novel, Perish, was published to great acclaim in 2022. Her writing has appeared in A Public Space, The Sun, McSweeney’s, and Kenyon Review, among other publications.
This event is free and open to the public.
Don’t miss out and sign up to our newsletter 
