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Oral Histories

The SFA oral history program documents life stories from the American South. Collecting these stories, we honor the people whose labor defines the region. If you would like to contribute to SFA’s oral history collections, please send your ideas for oral history along with your CV or Resume and a portfolio of prior oral history work to info@southernfoodways.org.

< Back to Oral History project: SFA Founders Oral History Project

ORAL HISTORY

Marilou Awiakta

Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1936, Marilou Awiakta is a seventh-generation Appalachian native and self-described Cherokee-Appalachian poet, storyteller, and essayist. After graduating from the University of Tennessee with degrees in French and English in 1958, Awiakta and her husband lived in France for three years where she sharpened her connection and sensitivity to language. Her books include Abiding Appalachia: Where Mountain and Atom Meet (1978), Rising Fawn and the Fire Mystery (1983), and Selu: Seeking the Corn-Mother’s Wisdom (1994). Her work has been chronicled in magazines, literary journals, and various anthologies of literature around the world. Awiakta currently lives in Memphis, Tennessee, with her husband, Paul Thompson.

Date of interview:
2005-03-08 00:00

Interviewer:
Amy C. Evans

Photographer:
Amy C. Evans

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