Inger-Mari Aikio | |
---|---|
Born | 1961 (age 62–63) |
Nationality | Finnish |
Education | University of Oulu |
Occupation | poet |
Inger-Mari Aikio (prev. Inger-Mari Aikio-Arianaick; born 1961 in Utsjoki, Finland) is a Sámi poet who writes in Northern Sámi. [1] In addition to writing poetry, she has worked as a reporter, photographer and proofreader for the newspaper Sámi Áigi from 1982 to 1988, after which she went to work as a news journalist for YLE Sámi Radio.[ citation needed]
After graduating from high school in 1980, Aikio studied languages at the University of Oulu.[ citation needed] In 1992, she passed the official translator exams from Northern Sámi to Finnish and from Finnish to Northern Sámi.[ citation needed]
Aikio has also published seven collections of poetry and children's books. [2] Her poems have been translated in English, German, Finnish, Swedish, Hungarian.
In 2013, Inger-Mari Aikio won the Skábmagovat Prize, an indigenous film award to honor the significant, long-term contributions she has made to the Sámi culture and communities. [3] Two years later, she was awarded the Finnish State Prize for Children's Culture. [4]