Wilkinsburg writer Deesha Philyaw a finalist for National Book Awards

A Wilkinsburg woman well known for her writing about race, gender, parenting and culture is now receiving national recognition for her fiction.

Deesha Philyaw is among five finalists in the fiction category of the National Book Awards for her story collection “The Secret Lives of Church Ladies,” her first book of fiction.

The book’s publisher, West Virginia University Press, describes the work as exploring “the raw and tender places where Black women and girls dare to follow their desires and pursue a momentary reprieve from being good. The nine stories in this collection feature four generations of characters grappling with who they want to be in the world, caught as they are between the church’s double standards and their own needs and passions.”

So, what exactly inspired Philyaw to write such a book?

“I grew up in the church and when I got to adolescence, you’re trying to figure out who you’re going to be and how you are going to be in the world,” said Philyaw, 49, a native of Jacksonville, Fla. “At church you’re getting all these messages about what it means to be good and what men are supposed to be and what women are supposed to be and sometimes the things we were taught at church were conflicting or contradictory with what was happening within me.

“How was I going to live with the church saying you are going to live one way and then very human desires saying other things? Because that period in my life was so impactful, years later I started exploring those things in fiction and it took me right back to those church ladies. They very much live in my imagination.”

Philyaw’s story of longing resonated with many of her readers.

“I’ve heard from so many Black women in particular but lots of folks that say, ‘I know these women or I was this woman or I was that girl’ and that the story touched on some truths in their lives. That’s been really gratifying,” said Philyaw.

The recognition has been gratifying as well. Philyaw said she was stunned to hear the news.

“You know you write a book and you’re not sure how it’s going to be received critically. I’m truly stunned and very thankful for that,” said Philyaw.

Philyaw, a graduate of Yale University, lives in Wilkinsburg with her three daughters. Her previous work includes “Co-Parenting 101: Helping Your Kids Thrive in Two Households After Divorce,” written with her former husband, Michael D. Thomas. Her essays have been published widely, from The New York Times and Washington Post to Ebony and Harvard Review. She has taught at Chatham University and worked at WQED and PNC Bank since moving to Pittsburgh in the 2000s.

The winners of the National Book Awards, established in 1950, will be announced on Nov. 18.