Marilou Awiakta

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. 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. 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. Awiakta graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1958 receiving a B.A. magna cum laude, in both English and French. Awards Distinguished Tennessee Writer Award, 1989 Appalachian Heritage Writer's Award, Shepherd College, 2000