Rachel Held Evans

Rachel Held Evans

Rachel Held Evans
Born Rachel Grace Held
June 8, 1981
Occupation Columnist, author
Nationality American
Genre Christian
Website
rachelheldevans.com

Rachel Held Evans (née Rachel Grace Held, June 8, 1981) is an American Christian columnist, blogger and author. Her book A Year of Biblical Womanhood was on the New York Times' E-Book Non-fiction best-seller list.[1]

Life and career

Evans was born to Peter and Robin Held. She grew up in Birmingham, Alabama. At age 14, she and her family moved to Dayton, Tennessee, where her father took an administrative position at Bryan College. She attended Rhea County High School and then went to Bryan College where she majored in English literature. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in 2003 and then married her college boyfriend, Dan Evans, that year. They moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where she worked as an intern for the Chattanooga Times Free Press.[2]

In 2004, Evans returned to Dayton where she worked full-time for the local paper, The Herald-News. In 2006, she transitioned from full-time to writing pro bono as the paper's humor columnist; in 2007, she won an award for "Best Personal Humor Column" from the Tennessee Press Association.[3] She continued to write freelance articles for national publications and started a blog.[4]

In September 2008, Evans signed with Zondervan for her first book, Evolving in Monkey Town.[5] The book explores her journey from religious certainty to a faith which accepts doubt and questioning; the title is based on the Scopes Monkey Trial that occurred in Dayton.[6] Her second book, A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband Master, was released in October 2012.[7][8] She recounts how she spent an entire year of living a Biblical lifestyle literally. The book also garnered national media attention for Evans as she appeared on The Today Show.[4] In 2014, Evans re-released Evolving in Monkey Town with the new title of Faith Unraveled.[9]

Books

References

  1. "Best Sellers - The New York Times". Retrieved 2015-02-09.
  2. "Alumna Rachel Held Evans - published, working and improving". The Bryan College Triangle. October 23, 2013. Retrieved 2014-01-07.
  3. "2007 University of Tennessee - Tennessee Press Association - State Press Contests Awards" (PDF (PRESS CLIPPINGS)). July 19, 2006 (article) August 2007 (press clippings). p. 14. Retrieved 2012-06-06. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. 4.0 4.1 Evans, Rachel Held (2012-10-22). "Living through 'A Year of Biblical Womanhood'". Today Books. NBCUniversal Media. Retrieved 2012-11-06.
  5. "Evolving in Monkey Town: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask the Questions (9780310293996): Rachel Held Evans: Books". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  6. "Evolving in Monkey Town". RachelHeldEvans.com. Retrieved 2012-11-06.
  7. Krauss, Lawrence. "An evangelical blogger is spending 12 months following the Bible's instructions for women—and she's doing it for egalitarian reasons. - Slate Magazine". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  8. Compton, Allie (2012-10-23). "Rachel Held Evans, Author Of "A Year of Biblical Womanhood", Spent A Year Living The Bible Literally". Huffington Post.
  9. "Faith Unraveled: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask the Questions (9780310339168): Rachel Held Evans: Books". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2014-03-26.

External links