author
Wilma Dykeman
1920–2006
A clear-eyed chronicler of Appalachia, she wrote fiction and nonfiction rooted in the land, communities, and social struggles of the mountain South. Her work is especially remembered for blending a strong sense of place with concerns about race, the environment, and everyday life.
1 Audiobook
At home in the Smokies : a history handbook for Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee
by United States. National Park Service, Wilma Dykeman, James Stokely
About the author
Born in Asheville, North Carolina, in 1920, Wilma Dykeman became an American writer whose books explored Appalachia with warmth, honesty, and close attention to the people who lived there. Sources consistently describe her as a writer of both fiction and nonfiction, and note that her work returned again and again to the culture and landscape of the region.
Her writing ranged across novels, memoir, history, and social commentary. The French Broad is among the works most closely associated with her, and reference sources also note that she wrote about subjects including environmental change, race relations, history, and peace.
Dykeman died in Asheville in late December 2006. Even in brief reference accounts, she stands out as a writer who treated Appalachia not as a stereotype, but as a living, changing place full of complexity and human stories.