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Mari Evans

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EVANS-Mari

Mari Evans. Courtesy Just Us Books.

Mari Evans (born July 16, 1923) is an African-American poet.

Life[]

Evans was born in Toledo, Ohio. She attended the University of Toledo where she majored in fashion design in 1939. The fashion design major did not hold her interest and she left without a degree.

Evans began a series of teaching appointments in American universities in 1969. During 1969-1970, she served as writer in residence at Indiana University-Purdue, where she taught courses in African American literature. The next year, Evans accepted a position as the writer in residence at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. She lives in Indianapolis.

From 1968 to 1973, Evans produced, wrote and directed the television program called The Black Experience for WTTV in Indianapolis, Indiana. Evans continued her teaching career at Purdue (1978-1980), at Washington University in Saint Louis (1980), at Cornell University (1981-1985) at the State University of New York - Albany (1985-1986).

Evans is an activist for prison reform. She is against corporal punishment. She works with theater groups and local community organizations.

Writing[]

Evans has written several poems, short stories, children’s books, and plays. She is known for her many poems. A poem of hers, called "When In Rome", is taught in many high schools and college English classes. The poem ends, "I'm tired of eatin' what they eats in Rome." The last line provides the poem with its famous title. It is a dialogue poem, between Mattie and her possible slave owner, offering her unfamiliar foods in the pantry. She is also well known for the line, "I have never been contained except I made the prison."

Evans was a part of the Black Arts Movement. The BAM poets spread the message of Black cultural, psychological, and economical liberation. In 1970, Evans wrote “I am a Black Woman.” The 2nd stanza reads: “I am a black woman tall as a cypress strong beyond all definition still defying place and time and circumstance assailed impervious indestructible.” Evans spoke of the need to make Blackness both beautiful and powerful.

Recognition[]

Evans received an honorary degree from Marion College in 1975.

Awards[]

John Hay Whitney Fellow, 1965-66
Woodrow Wilson Foundation Grant, 1968
Indiana University Writers Conference Award, 1970
First Annual Poetry Award, Black Academy of Arts and Letters, 1970
Copeland Fellow, Amherst College, 1980
National Endowment for the Arts grant, 1981-82
Photo put on Ugandan postage stamp, 1997
Nominated for a Grammy Award for the liner notes she wrote for The Long Road Back To Freedom: An Anthology of Black Music, 2002

Publications[]

Poetry[]

  • Where is the Music. 1968.[1]
  • I am a Black Woman. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1970.[2]
  • I Look at Me. Chicago: Third World Press, 1974.[2]
  • Night Star 1973-1978 1981. Los Angeles: CAAS Publications, 1981.[2] ISBN: 0863163149
  • A Dark and Splendid Mass. New York: Writers and Readers Publishers, Inc., 1992.[2]
  • How We Speak. Third World Press, 2003.
  • Continuum: New and Selected Poems. Black Classic Press, 2007.

Non-fiction[]

  • Clarity as Concept: A poet's perspective. Third World Press, 1996.

Juvenile[]

  • Rap Stories. 1974.[1]
  • Jim Flying High. New York: Doubleday & Company, 1979.[2]
  • J.D. New York: Avon Books, 1982.[2]
  • Singing Black: Alternative Nursery Rhymes for Children. East Orange, NJ: Just Us Books, 1998.
  • Dear Corinne, Tell Somebody! Love, Annie: A book about secrets. East Orange, NJ: Just Us Books, 1999.
  • I'm Late: The Story of LaNeese and Moonlight and Alisha Who Didn't Have Anyone of Her Own. East Orange, NJ: Just Us Books, 2005.


Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy AALBC.com. [3]

Plays[]

  • River of My Song (1977)
  • Portrait of a Man (1979)
  • Boochie (1979)
  • Eyes, a musical based on Their Eyes Were Watching God (1979)

See also[]

When_In_Rome_by_Mari_Evans

When In Rome by Mari Evans

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Mari Evans," Wikipedia, Wikimedia, Web, Feb. 26, 2012.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Mari Evans, California Newsreel, Web, Feb. 26, 2012.
  3. ↑ Mari Evans, AALBC.com LLC, Web, Feb. 26, 2012.

External links[]

Poems
Audio / video
Books
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