SHREVEPORT, La. (Ark-La-Tex Weekend) - The fiction mystery romance writer and poet, M. L. Dumars, shares her inspirations, her beginnings as a writer, and her advice to anyone interested in being a writer.
On July 22, 2023, ArkLaTex Artistry continues to explore the amazing artistic talents of our area with Mary L. Dumars, a Shreveport award-winning and life-long writer.
A young writer’s beginnings:
Dumars began writing when she was a little girl in elementary school, where she kept a journal imagining the everyday life of a fictitious little girl. In high school, Dumars began to write poetry and was published in a Caddo school district-wide annual paper. Her first poem was called Invictus, about a teenager who was popular at school but was secretly depressed and suicidal.
Professional work:
Her professional writing career actually did not begin until about five years ago. It was then that she began to write much more serious poetry and her first novel, Any Given Tuesday and Tumbleweed, A Book of Poems.
Any Given Tuesday is about a woman who wakes up with amnesia and finds herself in downtown Shreveport. Her other publication, Tumbleweed, is a collection of poems Dumars has written in the past two years. Most of the poems are a response to politics, including the war in Ukraine, Covid-19, Black Lives Matter, and the death of George Floyd.
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Her inspiration and advice:
Inspired by many amazing poets and novelists, Dumars’ biggest inspiration came from impactful personal advice she was given by Pulitzer-prize-winning poet, Gwendolyn Brooks when she came to Dumars’ school. Brooks approached the shy child, Dumars, and asked her, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
Dumars told Brooks she wanted to be a writer. Brooks asked her, “Do you write?”
“Yes,” said Dumars. Then Brooks gave Dumars the biggest advice that any writer can give to another.
Keep writing.
— Gwendolyn Brooks, American pulitzer-prize winning poet.
“When you take on your role as a writer, as a poet, as a novelist, whatever your genre may be. When you say ‘I am a writer’ you become what you say you are,” says Mary L. Dumars.
Learn as much as you can about your craft, always seek to improve your writing, and keep writing.
— Mary L. Dumars
Reading of Dumars’ ‘The Bearer’:
Check out more of ML Dumars’ work on her website, https://www.drmddesigns.com.
If you enjoyed this content and want to learn about more ArkLaTex Artists, check out https://www.arklatexweekend.com/2023/06/03/ark-la-tex-artistry-debra-roberson-photographer-writer-aims-remind-people-history/
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