Fun Facts Friday: Mari Evans

Mari Evans (16 July, 1919 – 10 March, 2017) was an award winning poet, editor, and writer, known for poems which are direct, yet lyrical.

Books by Mari Evans*

Fun Facts about Mari Evans:

1. Mari Evans was born in Toledo, Ohio. Sadly, her mother, Mary Jane Jacobs, died when she was seven years old.
2. William Reed Evans, her father, was her greatest fan and encouraged her to write throughout her life.
3. In the University of Toledo, Ms. Evans majored in fashion design – however she never graduated.
4. With an interest in music, Ms. Evans moved to Indianapolis, IN to collaborate with jazz musicians. The city is where she also started her career as a civil servant.
5. Mari Evans gained popularity as a poet during the 1960s and 70s. The poet became associated with the effort to explore African American culture and history called the Black Arts Movement.
6. The poems Ms. Evans wrote had themes on race, identify, social justice and often featured African American women.
7. Ms. Evans started to teach writing courses at Purdue University at Indianapolis, and later at Indiana University in Bloomington.
8. Ms. Evans wrote poems, articles, essays, children’s books, as well as short stories.
9. A weekly TV show for an Indianapolis station called The Black Experience was produced by Ms. Evans from 1968 to 1973.
10. Among other honors, Ms. Evans received a lifetime achievement award from the Indianapolis Library Foundation.

Zohar – Man of la Book
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account