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Deesha Philyaw

Goodreads Author

Born

in Jacksonville, FL, The United States

Website

https://www.deeshaphilyaw.com/

Twitter

https://www.instagram.com/deeshaphilyaw/

Genre

Fiction, Nonfiction

Member Since

November 2010

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/deeshaphilyaw

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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.

Deesha’s debut novel, The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman, is forthcoming from Mariner Books, an imprint of HarperCollins, on September 29, 2026.

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Deesha Philyaw's Blog

Coming Sept. 1, 2020!

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Deesha Philyaw’s books

Average rating: 4.12 · 44,848 ratings · 7,097 reviews · 17 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Secret Lives of Church Ladies 4.13 avg rating — 43,411 ratings — published 2020 — 22 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Daddy Was a Number Runner (55th Anniversary Edition) by Louise Meriwether, Bridgett M. Davis (Goodreads Author) (Contributor), Farah Griffin (Contributor) 4.18 avg rating — 1,457 ratings — published 1970 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Peach Pit: Sixteen Stories of Unsavory Women by Molly Llewellyn (Editor), Kristel Buckley (Editor), Lauren Groff (Goodreads Author) 3.53 avg rating — 966 ratings — published 2023 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Best of Brevity: Twenty Years of Groundbreaking Flash Nonfiction by Zoë Bossiere (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Dinty W. Moore (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Brenda Miller (Contributor) 4.29 avg rating — 307 ratings — published 2020 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Co-parenting 101: Helping Your Kids Thrive in Two Households after Divorce by Deesha Philyaw (Goodreads Author), Michael D. Thomas (Goodreads Author) 3.87 avg rating — 76 ratings — published 2013 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman 4.54 avg rating — 35 ratings — expected publication 2026 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	When We Were Free to Be: Looking Back at a Children's Classic and the Difference It Made by Lori Rotskoff (Editor), Laura L. Lovett (Editor), Joe Kelly (Contributor) 3.79 avg rating — 39 ratings — published 2012 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	An Anthology of Rural Stories by Writers of Color 2025 by Deesha Philyaw (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Keith Pilapil Lesmeister (Goodreads Author) (Contributor) 4.43 avg rating — 7 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Fractured Lit Anthology Volume 2 by Deesha Philyaw (Goodreads Author) (Compiler), Tommy Dean (Editor) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	So S/He Had An Affair: Writing to Keep From Losing Your Sh*t by Deesha Philyaw (Goodreads Author), Magda Pecsenye (With) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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In celebration of Black History Month in the U.S., this year we've gathered together a collection of fiction from Black authors going back a...

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The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller

by John Truby

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Jun 06, 2020 06:24PM

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The House of Deep Water

by Jeni McFarland (Goodreads Author)

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The Cassoulet Saved Our Marriage: True Tales of Food, Family, and How We Learn to Eat

by Caroline Grant (Goodreads Author)

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Mar 13, 2013 09:32AM

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Quotes by Deesha Philyaw (?)

“But maybe you should question the people who taught you this version of God. Because it's not doing you any favors.”
― Deesha Philyaw, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

21 likes

“You can't save me, because I'm not in peril.”
― Deesha Philyaw, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

16 likes

“There’s an old saying: mothers raise their daughters and love their sons.”
― Deesha Philyaw, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

14 likes

See all Deesha Philyaw's quotes »

Polls

February BoTM Nominations ~ Book by a Black Author ~ Final Poll

The Violin Conspiracy

by Brendan Slocumb

12 votes, 38.7%

Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood

by Trevor Noah

9 votes, 29.0%

Harlem Shuffle

by Colson Whitehead

8 votes, 25.8%

People Person

by Candice Carty-Williams

1 vote, 3.2%

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty

by Akwaeke Emezi

1 vote, 3.2%

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

by Deesha Philyaw

0 votes, 0.0%

31 total votes

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Deesha’s Quotes

“I love myself when I am laughing. . . and then again when I am looking mean and impressive.”
― Zora Neale Hurston, I Love Myself When I Am Laughing And Then Again When I Am Looking Mean & Impressive

1817 likes