biography

Born in Sioux City, Iowa in 1940, David Allan Evans went to college on a football scholarship, and by the time he graduated, he was writing poems and short stories. He has degrees from Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, the University of Iowa, and the University of Arkansas, where he got his MFA in creative writing.

He has lived in Brookings, South Dakota since 1968, where he is a professor of English and Writer in Residence at South Dakota State University. He is the author of five books of poetry, and the author or editor of seven other books.

In 1974 he was the first South Dakotan to receive a National Endowment for the Arts grant. He also has writing grants from the Bush Artist foundation in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the South Dakota Arts Council. His poems, short stories, and essays have been published in many magazines and journals and in over 60 anthologies, including BEST POEMS OF 1969 (The Borestone Awards), HEARTLAND II: POETS OF THE MIDWEST, THE NORTON BOOK OF SPORTS, THE SPORTING LIFE, IMAGINING HOME, POETSPEAK, MOTION: AMERICAN SPORTS POEMS, and FATHERS.

A number of his poems have been re-printed frequently in well-known sports literature anthologies as well as K-12 text books. He has been a Fulbright Scholar to China twice, once in Nanjing, China and once in Guangzhou. He has done residencies for the South Dakota Arts Council, Iowa Arts Council, and Wyoming Arts Council for over 25 years. He is listed in CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS, INTERNATIONAL AUTHORS AND WRITERS WHO'S WHO, and WHO'S WHO IN AMERICA.