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MISSION
 Etheridge
Knight Inc promotes the arts and the appreciation of the arts for youth,
youth at risk, adults, seniors, the handicapped, and the incarcerated
by providing the arts for people of all ages and cultures through various
artistic expressions. The organization pays tribute to the arts community
and the legacy of the late American poet Etheridge Knight.
PHILOSOPHY
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To enrich and enhance the everyday lives of the community
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To provide the arts as a tool of learning for the betterment of personal
and academic accomplishments
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To increase the stability of economic development
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To advance social values
OUR HISTORY
 Etheridge
Knight Festival of the Arts Inc. was founded in 1992 and incorporated
in 1996 by Eunice Knight-Bowens, sister of the late American Poet Etheridge
Knight. The festival has hosted literary luminaries such as the late Gwendolyn
Brooks, Amiri Baraka, Haki Madhubuti, Sonia Sanchez, E. Ethelbert Miller,
Dr. Eugene B. Redmond, Dr. Gloria House, The Last Poets, Kevin Young,
Aaren Perry, Lamont B. Steptoe and many others. The incorporation has
evolved from hosting an annual arts festival to year round arts programming.
ETHERIDGE KNIGHT JR.
 Etheridge Knight Jr. was born April 19, 1931 in Corinth, Mississippi,
the third child and third son of Etheridge Sr. and Belzora Cozart-Knight.
In the late 1930s/ early 1940s, the Knight family moved to Paducah, Kentucky.
Growing up in Corinth and Paducah, with two brothers and four sisters,
Knight attended local schools, dropping out after the eighth grade. Of
Mississippi, Knight writes "Growing /up/in Mississippi, one becomes extremely
aware/of/the political, economical, and social systems that separate people
from people (the religious system/is/included too). Yet, the language
which /is/the cement that binds/all the above systems (or institutions)
together are the South's saving grace."
... read more
MEET THE BOARD
Etheridge Knight Inc. Board, Steering Committee, and volunteers
represent all sectors of the Indianapolis community. They are multi-racial,
diverse, artists, and non-artists with different educational and ethnic
backgrounds.
Founding Director |
Eunice Knight-Bowens, sister
of the late poet, is Founding Director of Etheridge Knight
Inc. and the "Annual Etheridge Knight Festival of the Arts." Poet
and playwright, Knight-Bowens is the author of several plays,
including "And Now My Soul Can Sing!," the life story of Etheridge
Knight, and several Gospel plays. Published in two major anthologies,
she has performed poetry throughout the country and her works
have been exhibited in universities and libraries, including "Meet
the Artists" (1997, 1998). Eunice is retired from Methodist Hospital, Indianapolis, Indiana.
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President |
Susan Stiles-Smock, has facilitated “Young Artists in Bloom” workshops focused on literacy and assisted elementary to college students with their writing.
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Treasurer and
Executor of the EK Estate |
Janice J. Knight-Mooney retired
after dedicating 27 years to the Army Finance and Accounting
Service. Knight-Mooney is currently a case manager for community
action of Greater Indianapolis. |
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Members |
Luther E. Bowens, Jr. is Chief Executive Officer of Bowens Management/ Alis Records (Gospel productions). An advocate of youth, Bowens is responsible for developing and sponsoring youth programs and groups. He is employed by a large school system as System Administration Manager/ Network Analyst.
Michaal L L Collins I studied haiku / in the Free Peoples Workshop / with Etheridge Knight / who
...taught that these words / should not be controlled language. / the elegance of / the 5-7-5 form /
should be so subtle that it / could easily be /
a mere dialogue / like one between a mentor / the muse and a friend
Kia Matthews is a senior at IUPUI and in pastoral training at Mercy and Truth Ministries. She has written plays and skits, such as God Is Trying to Tell You Something and Imagine Me, and Do I Love My Idols More Than I Love God.
Mary McClain is a consultant/Small
Business Management. McClain holds a B.A. from Indiana University
in Business Management/Marketing and attend the IU School of
Philanthropy. McClain's hobbies include performing: acting,
singing, dancing. McClain is also the coordinator for the Gospel
play, "The
Rock Cries."
Freedom Hagood Eastling, Secretary & Assitant Event Coordinator, is a CADAC II Certified Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselor (ICAADA) and Worship and Drama Arts Ministry Coordinator at Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church as well as being an Ordained Minister. Karen Moore is an educator, publicist, and events planner.
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Advisory Board |
Cassandra
L. Donald, poet,
is senior manager at an international express mailing company.
Randall Horton is the author of the Definition of Place and the Lingua Franca of Ninth Street, both from Main Street Rag. Horton is the recipient of the Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Award, the Bea Gonzalez Poetry Award and most recently a National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship in Literature. His creative and critical work has most recently appeared in Callaloo, Crab Orchard Review, and The Packingtown Review. Horton is a Cave Canem Fellow, a member of the Affrilachian Poets and a member of The Symphony: the House that Etheridge Built. He has a MFA in Poetry from Chicago State University and a PhD in Creative Writing from SUNY Albany. Horton is Assistant Professor of English at the University of New Haven.
J.L. Kato,
poet, has a degree in journalism and a certificate in film
studies. An award winning poet, he has also reviewed movies,
books, and recordings. Kato hosts open mics and
is a volunteer for the Family Support Center and various
libraries in the city. Kato is the author of the award winning book of poetry, Shadows Set in Concrete (2011).
Norbert Krapf, poet, directed the Poetry Center of Long Island University for 18 years and taught English on the University level for 37 years. He has published 19 books, won numerous awards, and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 2002. Appointed Indiana Poet Laureate in 2008, he coordinates a new series at The American Cabaret Theatre in Indianapolis, Together Again: Music & Poetry. His latest book is a selection of 175 poems written 1971-2007, Bloodroot: Indiana Poems (Indiana University Press).
Karen Kovacik, 2012 - 2013 Indiana Poet Laureate, is Director of Creative Writing at IUPUI. She is the recipient of a number of awards, including a guest fellowship at the University of Wisconsin's Institute for Creative Writing, an Arts Council of Indianapolis Creative Renewal Fellowship, and a Fulbright Research Grant to Poland. Her latest book of poems is Metropolis Burning (Cleveland State, 2005), and earlier collections include Beyond the Velvet Curtain (Kent State, 1999) and Nixon and I (Kent State, 1998). At the age of 40, she also began to experiment with writing fiction, and her poems and stories have appeared in Salmagundi, Chelsea, Glimmer Train, Massachusetts Review, and Indiana Review. Mitchell Douglas,Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at IUPUI, is the Poetry Editor for PLUCK!: The Journal of Affrilachian Art & Culture, founding member of the Affrilachian Poets, and Chair of the creative writing faculty of the Kentucky Governor's School for the Arts.
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Youth Advisor |
Sarah Stiles, a recent graduate of Herron High School, has been actively involved in community theater, both onstage amd backstage, for several years. Most recently, she played Lebeau in As You Like It and was stage manager for Macbeth. Sarah will start college in fall 2011 and plans to major in theatre and vocal performance.
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