Alan Govenar is a writer, folklorist, photographer and filmmaker. He is the director of Documentary Arts, a nonprofit organization he founded in 1985 to present new perspectives on historical issues and diverse cultures. Govenar is a Guggenheim Fellow and the author of more than 25 books including Everyday Music; Untold Glory: African Americans in Pursuit of Freedom, Opportunity, and Achievement; Texas Blues: The Rise of a Contemporary Sound; Lightnin' Hopkins: His Life and Blues; Stompin' at the Savoy: The Story of Norma Miller; Jasper, Texas: The Community Photographs of Alonzo Jordan; and Deep Ellum: The Other Side of Dallas. His book Osceola: Memories of a Sharecropper's Daughter won first place in the New York Book Festival (children's nonfiction), a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor and an Orbis Pictus Honor from the National Council of Teachers of English. It was also the basis of his film Osceola Mays: Stories, Songs and Poems. Govenar's film Stoney Knows How: Life as a Tattoo Artist was shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris and was an Outstanding Film of the Year at the London Film Festival. Govenar has also produced and directed numerous films in association with NOVA, PBS and ARTE. His feature-length documentaries, The Beat Hotel, Master Qi and the Monkey King and You Don't Need Feet to Dance are distributed by First Run Features. Govenar and Akin Babatunde created the musical Blind Lemon Blues, which was presented in its world premiere at the Forum Meyrin in Geneva and the Maison des Cultures du Monde in Paris and staged off-Broadway at the York Theatre in New York City in 2007 and 2009.
