Emory Library Celebrates Work Of Black Arts Movement’s Mari Evans
Drs. Joanne Gabbin and Althea Tait are seen with Lois Reitzes.
Myke Johns / WABE
Mari Evans’ poem “The Rebel” ends with the stanza:
Curiosity
seekers …
coming to see
if I
am really
Dead …
or just
trying to make
Trouble …
The writer and activist who came out of the Black Arts Movement was known for her unique sort of dignified mischief. Her work was championed by Langston Hughes, and she was a committed teacher, activist, and writer up until her death in 2017.
“It was good trouble because she was passionate about children’s education and their safety and their futures,” Dr. Joanne Gabbin of James Madison University tells City Lights host Lois Reitzes.
Emory University’s Stewart A Rose Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library now has Evans’ papers.
“One of the things we’re trying to dismantle is the critical inattention her work has received,” says Dr. Althea Tate. “She once told me that she thought her work had not been as widely received because she refused to entertain.”
Emory is presenting the program “The Rebel: In Celebration of Mari Evans” in the Woodruff Library, Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
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