ML Dumars

Southern Artist

author, poet,

photographer,

and storyteller

ABOUT ML

ML Dumars received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Humanities from Tulane University in 2019, returning to school after a 20 year absence. She was a monthly contributor to SB magazine for two years. She wrote poetry and short stories published in Up All Night anthology, Handbasket Zine, Fleur de Lit magazine, and in the international Short Edition Database. She published her debut novel, Any Given Tuesday, in 2020, and her book of poetry, Tumbleweed, in 2021. Awarded a grant from the NEA, she produced a docufilm entitled Tell Your Story: Natchez Stories in 2022. She won 2023 Critic’s Choice for Literary Art in Critical Mass 11, hosted by the Shreveport Regional Arts Council. She presented a solo exhibition in 2024 based on excerpts from her latest sci-fi novel, A Different Way of Being. Her work has appeared in several exhibitions through out Shreveport/Bossier and Natchitoches. She resides in her hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana, where she spins tales of conflicted characters caught in real world dilemmas they must overcome with small town values intact.

2024 Solo exhibition based on my sci-fi novel, A Different Way of Being

A reading

PHILOSOPHY

Writing is an act of rendering deep observations. I recreate minute details of simple life and the complex characters who live them. My works expose the possibilities of relationships influenced by stereotypes, spiritual beliefs, traumatic experiences, sexual orientation, and ethnic bias. The characters are challenged and transformed by extraordinary events in ordinary settings. Many of my poems and short stories draw from small town experiences in rural black communities. These characters reflect real and imagined reactions to conflicts in everyday life. Through exploration of life in small black towns and villages, my works form a backdrop for vivid personalities to thrive. The Art of Photography opens the mind's eye to see the impermanence of a moment in time. The concept of a stare is diffused and the observer can evaluate the scene as it pertains to one's own life.