Will Evans (publisher)

Will Evans (born 1983–1984) is an American publisher and translator. He is the founder of Deep Vellum Publishing, one of the largest publishing houses for translated fiction in the United States. Evans was also instrumental in Dallas' creation of a poet laureate position.

Evans' promotion of translated literature and contributions to the literary culture of Dallas have been widely recognized and celebrated. In 2022, he was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters. In 2023, he was made a Fellow of the Dallas Institute of Humanities & Culture. In 2024, in acknowledgment of his work in bringing French literature to English-reading audiences, he was made a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture.

Early life and education
Evans grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina. He attended Emory University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in History and Russian Language and Culture in 2005. He received a Master of Arts in Russian Culture from Duke University in 2012.

Deep Vellum
Evans moved to Dallas, Texas and founded Deep Vellum Publishing in 2013. In 2015, he opened Deep Vellum Books, a bookstore on Commerce Street in the city's Deep Ellum neighborhood.

In 2019, Deep Vellum Publishing bought two small publishing houses, Los Angeles' Phoneme Media and Austin's A Strange Object. In 2020, it acquired Dalkey Archive Press, publisher of, among other authors, Nobel Prize winner Jon Fosse.