Marilou Awiakta
Marilou Awiakta | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 24, 1936 Knoxville |
| Occupation | Poet, author |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of Tennessee B.A. magna cum laude, in English and French, 1958 |
| Children | Three children |
Marilou Awiakta (born January 24, 1936 in Knoxville, Tennessee) is an American writer known for her poetry and essays about her experiences growing up in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.[1]
Biography and career
Marilou Awiakta is the seventh generation of her family to grow up in Appalachia, mostly in East Tennessee. Since 1730, her family has lived in the mountainous area of the state.[2] She writes that she is of Scotch-Irish, Appalachian, and Eastern Band Cherokee descent. She self-identifies as Eastern Cherokee, but Awiakta is not a citizen of the Eastern Cherokee Tribe.[3]
Awiakta graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1958 receiving a B.A. magna cum laude, in both English and French.[4]
Awards
- Distinguished Tennessee Writer Award, 1989 [5]
- Appalachian Heritage Writer's Award, Shepherd College, 2000 [6]
Books
- Abiding Appalachia: Where Mountain and Atom Meet. Memphis: Saint Luke's Press, 1978. Rpt. Bell Buckle, TN: Iris Press, 1995. 71 pp. Rp. 2006 Pocahontas Press, 65 pp.
- Rising Fawn and the Fire Mystery: A Child's Christmas in Memphis, 1833. Memphis: Saint Luke's Press, 1983.
- Selu: Seeking the Corn-Mother's Wisdom. Golden, CO: Fulcrum, 1993. A blend of story, essay, and poetry.
Analysis
Awiakta's poetry is analysed at length in Our Fire Survives the Storm by Daniel Heath Justice (Cherokee Nation).
References
- ^ "Archived copy". www.ipl.org. Archived from the original on 12 August 2002. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Kelley, Saundra Gerrell (2011). Southern Appalachian Storytellers: Interviews with Sixteen Keepers of the Oral Tradition. Jefferson: McFarland Publishing. p. 33.
- ^ "THE CHEROKEES & INDIGENOUS PEOPLES". Appalachian Mountain Books. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
- ^ Notable Alumni: Marilou Awiakta (1958) | Torchbearer Archived 2010-06-02 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/imagegallery.php?EntryID=A048[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Marilou Awiakta at Shepherd College". Archived from the original on 2010-05-29. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
- American people who self-identify as being of Cherokee descent
- 1936 births
- Living people
- Writers from Knoxville, Tennessee
- 20th-century American women writers
- 21st-century American women writers
- 20th-century American poets
- 21st-century American poets
- American women poets
- Poets from Tennessee
- University of Tennessee alumni
- American expatriates in France