Cheryl Savageau (born April 14, 1950) is an American writer and poet.
Biography
Savageau is of French-Canadian and Abenaki descent.[1] Savageau was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, but grew up in a small island neighborhood on Lake Quinsigamond in Shrewsbury. She refers to this lake and her childhood growing up along the shore in her children's book Muskrat Will Be Swimming. She graduated from Clark University with a Bachelor of Science degree with focus on English and Philosophy.
It was in college that she really discovered her passion for writing and the connection it gave her to readers. Poetry and storytelling became Savageau's outlet for sharing stories about her ancestors and her Native culture.[2]
She was a founding member of Oak and Stone Storytellers, a storytelling group that told stories in concert to adults as well as to children in schools and libraries.[3][failed verification]
During her career, Savageau has won numerous awards for her work. Her children's book, Muskrat Will Be Swimming, was a Smithsonian Notable Book (1996) award winner, won the Skipping Stones Award for children's Environmental Books (1997), and the Best Children's Book Award (1997), from Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers.[4] For her work mentoring young and beginning writers, she was awarded Mentor of the Year from Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers (1998).[5][failed verification]
Savageau has also won various fellowships for poetry including the Massachusetts Artists Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.[6]
Her writing focuses on retelling Abenaki stories, including the stories of women and the working class.[7] Also a visual artist, she has exhibited her quilts,[8] paintings and other works.[9][10]
^"Cheryl Savageau". "We're Still Here": Contemporary Indigenous New England Artists. University of New Hampshire. Archived from the original on 20 November 2008. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
^"Cheryl Savageau". "Invisible/Visible": Emerging Contemporary New England Native American Art. University of New Hampshire. Archived from the original on 15 April 2013. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
^Siobhan Senier (Fall 2010). "'All This / Is Abenaki Country': Cheryl Savageau's Poetic Awikhiganak". Studies in American Indian Literatures. 3. 22 (3): 1–25. doi:10.1353/ail.2010.0013. S2CID162284619. Savageau's newest book, Mother/Land, appeared in 2006 in Salt Publishing's Earthworks series, edited by Janet McAdams; this will put her even more visibly in the company of such esteemed poets as Carter Revard, Diane Glancy, and Heid Erdrich.
^Savageau, Cheryl (7 June 2017). "Cheryl Savageau". WordPress.com. WordPRess. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
Parker, Robert Dale (Summer 2010). "A Review Essay on Recent American Indian Poetry". Studies in American Indian Literatures. 22 (2): 75–85. doi:10.5250/studamerindilite.22.2.75.