Louise Erdrich
Encyclopedia
Karen Louise Erdrich, known as Louise Erdrich, (born June 7, 1954) is an author of novel
s, poetry
, and children's books
featuring Native American
heritage. She is widely acclaimed as one of the most significant writers of the second wave of what critic Kenneth Lincoln has called the Native American Renaissance
. In April 2009, her novel The Plague of Doves was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
. She is the owner of Birchbark Books, a small independent bookstore
in Minneapolis.
in the 1950s.
Erdrich grew up in Wahpeton, North Dakota
where her parents taught at the Bureau of Indian Affairs
school. She is a tribal descendant of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians.
Erdrich attended Dartmouth College
from 1972 to 1976, earning a BA
degree and meeting her future husband, pseudo-Modoc
anthropologist and writer Michael Dorris
, who was then director of the Dartmouth’s Native American Studies
program. Subsequently, Erdrich worked in a wide variety of jobs, including as a lifeguard, waitress, poetry teacher at prisons, and construction flag signaller. She also became an editor for The Circle, a newspaper produced by and for the urban Native population in Boston
. Erdrich earned a Master of Arts
degree in creative writing
at Johns Hopkins University
in 1979.
. She also began collaborating with Dorris, initially working through the mail while Dorris was working in New Zealand
. The relationship progressed, and the two were married in 1981. During this time, Erdrich assembled the material that would eventually be published as the poetry collection Jacklight.
In 1982, Erdrich's story, "The World’s Greatest Fisherman", was awarded the $5,000 Nelson Algren
Prize for short fiction. This convinced Erdrich and Dorris, who continued to work collaboratively, that they should embark on writing a novel.
. Made up of disjointed, yet interconnected, short narratives, each told from the perspective of a different character, and moving backwards and forward in time through every decade between the 1930s and the present day, Love Medicine
told the stories of several families living on a North Dakota
Ojibwe reservation.
The innovative techniques used in Love Medicine
, which owed a great deal to the works of William Faulkner
, yet having little precedent in Native-authored fiction, allowed Erdrich to build up a picture of a community in a reservation setting. Love Medicine
received praise from authors and critics, such as N. Scott Momaday
and Gerald Vizenor
, and was awarded the 1984 National Book Critics Circle Award
. It has never been out of print.
.
The Beet Queen was subject to a bitter attack from Native novelist Leslie Marmon Silko
, who accused Erdrich of being more concerned with postmodern
technique than with the political struggles of Native peoples.
.
Tracks
goes back to the early 20th century at the formation of the reservation and introduces the trickster
figure of Nanapush, who owes a clear debt to Nanabozho
. Erdrich’s novel most rooted in Anishinaabe culture (at least until Four Souls), Tracks shows early clashes between traditional ways and the Roman Catholic Church.
The Bingo Palace updates, yet does not resolve, various conflicts from Love Medicine. Set in the 1980s, it shows the good and bad effects of a casino and a factory on the reservation community. Finally, Tales of Burning Love finishes the story of Sister Leopolda, a recurring character from all the previous books, and introduces a new set of white people into the reservation universe.
Erdrich and Dorris wrote The Crown of Columbus, the only novel to which both put their names, and A Yellow Raft in Blue Water, credited to Dorris. Both were set off the Argus reservation.
In 1989 Dorris published The Broken Cord, a book about fetal alcohol syndrome
, from which their adopted son Reynold Abel suffered. Dorris had discovered FAS was a widespread, and until then, relatively undiagnosed problem among Native American children resulting from mothers' alcoholism. In 1991, Reynold Abel was hit by a car and killed at age 23.
In 1995 their son Jeffrey Sava accused them both of child abuse. Dorris and Erdrich unsuccessfully pursued an extortion case against him. Shortly afterward, Dorris and Erdrich separated and began divorce proceedings. Erdrich claimed that Dorris had been depressed since the second year of their marriage.
On April 11, 1997, Michael Dorris committed suicide in Concord, New Hampshire
.
, a macabre mystery that again draws on Erdrich's Native American and German-American heritage, and The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse. Both have geographic and character connections with The Beet Queen.
Together with several of her previous works, these have drawn comparisons with William Faulkner
’s Yoknapatawpha novels. Erdrich's successive novels created multiple narratives in the same fictional area and combined the tapestry of local history with current themes and modern consciousness.
In The Plague of Doves, Erdrich continued the multi-ethnic dimension of her writing, weaving together the layered relationships among residents of farms, towns, and reservations; their shared histories, secrets, relationships, and antipathies; and the complexities for later generations of re-imagining their ancestors' overlapping pasts. The Plague of Doves was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2009.
Erdrich's latest novel, Shadow Tag, published in 2010, is the chilling tale of a failing marriage between two Native Americans of differing tribal backgrounds, whose artistic and family life deteriorate into ennui, deceit, and abuse, all of which are attributed to the overbearing, potentially sociopathic tendencies of a domineering, abusive husband, but who, despite it all, can live neither with nor without each other.
nation (also known as Ojibwa
and Chippewa). She also has German, French, and American ancestry.
One sister, Heidi, publishes under the name Heid E. Erdrich; she is a poet who also resides in Minnesota. Another sister, Lise Erdrich, has written children's books and collections of fiction and essays. For the past few years, the three Erdrich sisters have hosted annual writers' workshops on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in North Dakota.
The award-winning photographer Ronald W. Erdrich is one of their cousins. He lives and works in Abilene, Texas
. He was named "Star Photojournalist of the Year" in 2004 by the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors association.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s, poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
, and children's books
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
featuring Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
heritage. She is widely acclaimed as one of the most significant writers of the second wave of what critic Kenneth Lincoln has called the Native American Renaissance
Native American Renaissance
The Native American Renaissance was a term originally coined by critic Kenneth Lincoln in his 1983 book of the same title. Lincoln’s goal was to explore the explosion in production of literary works by Native Americans in the decade and a half after N. Scott Momaday had won the Pulitzer Prize in...
. In April 2009, her novel The Plague of Doves was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. It originated as the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel, which was awarded between 1918 and 1947.-1910s:...
. She is the owner of Birchbark Books, a small independent bookstore
Independent bookstore
An independent bookstore is a retail bookstore which is independently owned.-Literary and countercultural history:Author events at independent bookstores sometimes take the role of literary salons. The bookstores themselves, "have historically supported and cultivated the work of independent...
in Minneapolis.
Background and early life
The eldest of seven children, Karen Louise Erdrich was born in Little Falls, Minnesota, the daughter of Ralph Erdrich, a German-American, and his wife, Rita (Gourneau) Erdrich, who was of Métis ancestry. Rita's father and Louise's grandfather, Patrick Gourneau, served as tribal chairman for the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa IndiansTurtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians
The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians is a Native American tribe of Ojibwa and Métis peoples, based on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in Belcourt, North Dakota. The tribe has 30,000 enrolled members...
in the 1950s.
Erdrich grew up in Wahpeton, North Dakota
Wahpeton, North Dakota
The first European explorer in the area was Jonathan Carver in 1767. He explored and mapped the Northwest at the request of Major Robert Rogers, commander of Fort Michilimackinac, the British fort at Mackinaw City, Michigan, which protected the passage between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron...
where her parents taught at the Bureau of Indian Affairs
Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the US Department of the Interior. It is responsible for the administration and management of of land held in trust by the United States for Native Americans in the United States, Native American...
school. She is a tribal descendant of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians.
Erdrich attended Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
from 1972 to 1976, earning a BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree and meeting her future husband, pseudo-Modoc
Modoc
The Modoc are a Native American people who originally lived in the area which is now northeastern California and central Southern Oregon. They are currently divided between Oregon and Oklahoma. The latter are a federally recognized tribe, the Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma...
anthropologist and writer Michael Dorris
Michael Dorris
Michael Anthony Dorris was a prominent American novelist and scholar. During his career he presented himself as Native American and this identity was a key part of his professional activities and his public reputation; but its factuality is in doubt...
, who was then director of the Dartmouth’s Native American Studies
Native American Studies
Native American Studies is an interdisciplinary academic field that examines the history, culture, politics, issues and contemporary experience of Native peoples in North America, or, taking a hemispheric approach, the Americas...
program. Subsequently, Erdrich worked in a wide variety of jobs, including as a lifeguard, waitress, poetry teacher at prisons, and construction flag signaller. She also became an editor for The Circle, a newspaper produced by and for the urban Native population in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. Erdrich earned a Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
degree in creative writing
Creative writing
Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
at Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
in 1979.
Early literary work
In the period from 1978 to 1982, Erdrich published many poems and short storiesShort story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
. She also began collaborating with Dorris, initially working through the mail while Dorris was working in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. The relationship progressed, and the two were married in 1981. During this time, Erdrich assembled the material that would eventually be published as the poetry collection Jacklight.
In 1982, Erdrich's story, "The World’s Greatest Fisherman", was awarded the $5,000 Nelson Algren
Nelson Algren
Nelson Algren was an American writer.-Early life:Algren was born Nelson Ahlgren Abraham in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Goldie and Gerson Abraham. At the age of three he moved with his parents to Chicago, Illinois where they lived in a working-class, immigrant neighborhood on the South Side...
Prize for short fiction. This convinced Erdrich and Dorris, who continued to work collaboratively, that they should embark on writing a novel.
Love Medicine
In 1984, Erdrich published the novel Love MedicineLove Medicine
Love Medicine is Louise Erdrich’s first novel, published in 1984. Erdrich revised and expanded the novel for an edition issued in 1993, and this version was considered the definitive edition until 2009 when Erdrich re-edited it...
. Made up of disjointed, yet interconnected, short narratives, each told from the perspective of a different character, and moving backwards and forward in time through every decade between the 1930s and the present day, Love Medicine
Love Medicine
Love Medicine is Louise Erdrich’s first novel, published in 1984. Erdrich revised and expanded the novel for an edition issued in 1993, and this version was considered the definitive edition until 2009 when Erdrich re-edited it...
told the stories of several families living on a North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
Ojibwe reservation.
The innovative techniques used in Love Medicine
Love Medicine
Love Medicine is Louise Erdrich’s first novel, published in 1984. Erdrich revised and expanded the novel for an edition issued in 1993, and this version was considered the definitive edition until 2009 when Erdrich re-edited it...
, which owed a great deal to the works of William Faulkner
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
, yet having little precedent in Native-authored fiction, allowed Erdrich to build up a picture of a community in a reservation setting. Love Medicine
Love Medicine
Love Medicine is Louise Erdrich’s first novel, published in 1984. Erdrich revised and expanded the novel for an edition issued in 1993, and this version was considered the definitive edition until 2009 when Erdrich re-edited it...
received praise from authors and critics, such as N. Scott Momaday
N. Scott Momaday
Navarre Scott Momaday is a Kiowa-Cherokee Pulitzer Prize-winning writer from Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona.-Background:...
and Gerald Vizenor
Gerald Vizenor
Gerald Robert Vizenor is a Native American writer, and an enrolled member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, White Earth Reservation. One of the most prolific Native American writers, with over 30 books to his name, Vizenor also taught for many years at the University of California, Berkeley, where...
, and was awarded the 1984 National Book Critics Circle Award
National Book Critics Circle Award
The National Book Critics Circle Award is an annual award given by the National Book Critics Circle to promote the finest books and reviews published in English....
. It has never been out of print.
The Beet Queen
Erdrich followed Love Medicine with The Beet Queen, which continued her technique of using multiple narrators, yet surprised many critics by expanding the fictional reservation universe of Love Medicine to include the nearby town of Argus, North Dakota. Native characters are very much kept in the background in The Beet Queen, while Erdrich focuses on the German-American community. The action of the novel takes place mostly before World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
The Beet Queen was subject to a bitter attack from Native novelist Leslie Marmon Silko
Leslie Marmon Silko
Leslie Marmon Silko is a Native American writer of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, and one of the key figures in the second wave of what Kenneth Lincoln has called the Native American Renaissance...
, who accused Erdrich of being more concerned with postmodern
Postmodern literature
The term Postmodern literature is used to describe certain characteristics of post–World War II literature and a reaction against Enlightenment ideas implicit in Modernist literature.Postmodern literature, like postmodernism as a whole, is hard to define and there is little agreement on the exact...
technique than with the political struggles of Native peoples.
Other novels co-authored with Michael Dorris
Erdrich's and Dorris’s collaboration continued through the 1980s and into the 1990s, always occupying the same fictional universeFictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
.
Tracks
Tracks (novel)
Tracks is a novel by Louise Erdrich, published in 1988. It is the third in a tetralogy of novels beginning with Love Medicine that explores the interrelated lives of four Anishinaabe families living on an Indian reservation near the fictional town of Argus, North Dakota...
goes back to the early 20th century at the formation of the reservation and introduces the trickster
Trickster
In mythology, and in the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a god, goddess, spirit, man, woman, or anthropomorphic animal who plays tricks or otherwise disobeys normal rules and conventional behavior. It is suggested by Hansen that the term "Trickster" was probably first used in this...
figure of Nanapush, who owes a clear debt to Nanabozho
Nanabozho
In Anishinaabe mythology, particularly among the Ojibwa, Nanabozho is a spirit, and figures prominently in their storytelling, including the story of the world's creation. Nanabozho is the Ojibwe trickster figure and culture hero...
. Erdrich’s novel most rooted in Anishinaabe culture (at least until Four Souls), Tracks shows early clashes between traditional ways and the Roman Catholic Church.
The Bingo Palace updates, yet does not resolve, various conflicts from Love Medicine. Set in the 1980s, it shows the good and bad effects of a casino and a factory on the reservation community. Finally, Tales of Burning Love finishes the story of Sister Leopolda, a recurring character from all the previous books, and introduces a new set of white people into the reservation universe.
Erdrich and Dorris wrote The Crown of Columbus, the only novel to which both put their names, and A Yellow Raft in Blue Water, credited to Dorris. Both were set off the Argus reservation.
Difficulties and divorce proceedings
The couple had six children, three adopted by Dorris when he was single. After their marriage, Erdrich also adopted them, and the couple had three daughters together. Some of the children had difficulties.In 1989 Dorris published The Broken Cord, a book about fetal alcohol syndrome
Fetal alcohol syndrome
Fetal alcohol syndrome is a pattern of mental and physical defects that can develop in a fetus in association with high levels of alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Current research also implicates other lifestyle choices made by the prospective mother...
, from which their adopted son Reynold Abel suffered. Dorris had discovered FAS was a widespread, and until then, relatively undiagnosed problem among Native American children resulting from mothers' alcoholism. In 1991, Reynold Abel was hit by a car and killed at age 23.
In 1995 their son Jeffrey Sava accused them both of child abuse. Dorris and Erdrich unsuccessfully pursued an extortion case against him. Shortly afterward, Dorris and Erdrich separated and began divorce proceedings. Erdrich claimed that Dorris had been depressed since the second year of their marriage.
On April 11, 1997, Michael Dorris committed suicide in Concord, New Hampshire
Concord, New Hampshire
The city of Concord is the capital of the state of New Hampshire in the United States. It is also the county seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2010 census, its population was 42,695....
.
Later writings
Erdrich’s first novel after her divorce, The Antelope Wife, was the first to be set outside the continuity of the previous books. She subsequently returned to the reservation and nearby towns, and has published five novels since 1998 dealing with events in that fictional area. Among these are The Master Butchers Singing ClubThe Master Butchers Singing Club
The Master Butchers Singing Club is a 2003 novel by Louise Erdrich. It follows the life of Fidelis Waldvogel and his family, as well as Delphine Watzka and her partner Cyprian, as they adjust in their separate lives in the small town of Argus, North Dakota...
, a macabre mystery that again draws on Erdrich's Native American and German-American heritage, and The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse. Both have geographic and character connections with The Beet Queen.
Together with several of her previous works, these have drawn comparisons with William Faulkner
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
’s Yoknapatawpha novels. Erdrich's successive novels created multiple narratives in the same fictional area and combined the tapestry of local history with current themes and modern consciousness.
In The Plague of Doves, Erdrich continued the multi-ethnic dimension of her writing, weaving together the layered relationships among residents of farms, towns, and reservations; their shared histories, secrets, relationships, and antipathies; and the complexities for later generations of re-imagining their ancestors' overlapping pasts. The Plague of Doves was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2009.
Erdrich's latest novel, Shadow Tag, published in 2010, is the chilling tale of a failing marriage between two Native Americans of differing tribal backgrounds, whose artistic and family life deteriorate into ennui, deceit, and abuse, all of which are attributed to the overbearing, potentially sociopathic tendencies of a domineering, abusive husband, but who, despite it all, can live neither with nor without each other.
Awards
- O. Henry AwardO. Henry AwardThe O. Henry Award is the only yearly award given to short stories of exceptional merit. The award is named after the American master of the form, O. Henry....
, for the short story "Fleur" (published in EsquireEsquire (magazine)Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
, August 1986) (1987) - Pushcart PrizePushcart PrizeThe Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are invited to nominate up to 6 works they have featured....
in Poetry - Western Literacy Association Award
- Guggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
- National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, for Love Medicine (1984)
- World Fantasy AwardWorld Fantasy AwardThe World Fantasy Awards are annual, international awards given to authors and artists who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in the field of fantasy...
, for The Antelope Wife (1999) - Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers' Circle of the AmericasNative Writers' Circle of the AmericasThe Native Writers' Circle of the Americas is an organization of Native American writers, most notable for its literary awards, presented annually to Native American writers in three categories: First Book of Poetry, First Book of Prose, and Lifetime Achievement...
(2000). - Associate Poet Laureate of North Dakota, 2005
- Scott O'DellScott O'DellScott O'Dell was an American children's author who wrote 26 novels for young people, along with three novels for adults and four nonfiction books...
Award for Historical Fiction, for the children's book "The Game of Silence" (2006) - In April 2007 the University of North DakotaUniversity of North DakotaThe University of North Dakota is a public university in Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA. Established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of North Dakota, UND is the oldest and largest university in the state and enrolls over 14,000 students. ...
awarded Erdrich an honorary doctorate, but she refused it because of her opposition to that university's North Dakota Fighting SiouxNorth Dakota Fighting SiouxThe North Dakota Fighting Sioux are the athletic teams of the University of North Dakota , which is located in the city of Grand Forks, North Dakota, in the United States. The logo is a Native American figure. The logo was designed by Bennett Brien, a local artist and UND graduate of Ojibwa...
mascot. - In June 2009, received an honorary doctorate (Doctor of Letters) from Dartmouth College upon giving the 2009 Graduation Commencement Address
Relations
Erdrich is an enrolled member of the AnishinaabeAnishinaabe
Anishinaabe or Anishinabe—or more properly Anishinaabeg or Anishinabek, which is the plural form of the word—is the autonym often used by the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Algonquin peoples. They all speak closely related Anishinaabemowin/Anishinaabe languages, of the Algonquian language family.The meaning...
nation (also known as Ojibwa
Ojibwa
The Ojibwe or Chippewa are among the largest groups of Native Americans–First Nations north of Mexico. They are divided between Canada and the United States. In Canada, they are the third-largest population among First Nations, surpassed only by Cree and Inuit...
and Chippewa). She also has German, French, and American ancestry.
One sister, Heidi, publishes under the name Heid E. Erdrich; she is a poet who also resides in Minnesota. Another sister, Lise Erdrich, has written children's books and collections of fiction and essays. For the past few years, the three Erdrich sisters have hosted annual writers' workshops on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in North Dakota.
The award-winning photographer Ronald W. Erdrich is one of their cousins. He lives and works in Abilene, Texas
Abilene, Texas
Abilene is a city in Taylor and Jones counties in west central Texas. The population was 117,063 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Abilene Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a 2006 estimated population of 158,063. It is the county seat of Taylor County...
. He was named "Star Photojournalist of the Year" in 2004 by the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors association.
Novels
- Love MedicineLove MedicineLove Medicine is Louise Erdrich’s first novel, published in 1984. Erdrich revised and expanded the novel for an edition issued in 1993, and this version was considered the definitive edition until 2009 when Erdrich re-edited it...
(1984) - The Beet Queen (1986)
- TracksTracks (novel)Tracks is a novel by Louise Erdrich, published in 1988. It is the third in a tetralogy of novels beginning with Love Medicine that explores the interrelated lives of four Anishinaabe families living on an Indian reservation near the fictional town of Argus, North Dakota...
(1988) - The Crown of Columbus [with Michael Dorris] (1991)
- The Bingo Palace (1994)
- Tales of Burning Love (1997)
- The Antelope Wife (1998)
- The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse (2001)
- The Master Butchers Singing Club (2003)
- Four Souls (2004)
- The Painted Drum (2005)
- The Plague of Doves (Harper, 2008)
- Shadow Tag (Harper, 2010)
Children's literature
- The Leap (1990)
- Grandmother's Pigeon (1996)
- The Birchbark House (1999)
- The Range Eternal (2002)
- The Game of Silence (2005)
- The Porcupine Year (2008)
Poetry
- JacklightJacklightJacklight is a 1984 poetry collection by Louise Erdrich. The collection grew from poems Erdrich wrote for her 1979 Master of Arts thesis at Johns Hopkins University.-Table of Contents:*Jacklight**"Jacklight"*Runaways**"A Love Medicine"...
(1984) - Baptism of Desire (1989)
- Original Fire: Selected and New Poems (2003)
Non-fiction
- Route Two [with Michael Dorris] (1990)
- The Blue Jay’s Dance: A Birthyear (1995)
- Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country (2003)
As editor or contributor
- The Broken Cord by Michael Dorris (Foreword) (1989)
- The Best American Short StoriesBest American Short StoriesThe Best American Short Stories yearly anthology is a part of The Best American Series published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Since 1915, the BASS anthology has striven to contain the best short stories by some of the best-known writers in contemporary American literature.-Edward O'Brien:The...
1993 (Editor, with Katrina Kenison) (1993)
See also
- List of writers from peoples indigenous to the Americas
- Native American RenaissanceNative American RenaissanceThe Native American Renaissance was a term originally coined by critic Kenneth Lincoln in his 1983 book of the same title. Lincoln’s goal was to explore the explosion in production of literary works by Native Americans in the decade and a half after N. Scott Momaday had won the Pulitzer Prize in...
- Native American StudiesNative American StudiesNative American Studies is an interdisciplinary academic field that examines the history, culture, politics, issues and contemporary experience of Native peoples in North America, or, taking a hemispheric approach, the Americas...
External links
- Official website
- Birchbark Books website
- Louise Erdrich from Voices in the Gaps
- Multiple Erdrich Biographies
- Louise Erdrich at Modern American Poetry
Stories
- "The Reptile Garden", a short story in The New YorkerThe New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
(28 January 2008) - "The Fat Man's Race", a short story in The New YorkerThe New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
(3 November 2008)
Interviews
- Interview with Louise Erdrich on BookSense
- A conversation with Louise Erdrich from The Atlantic
- Lannan Readings and Conversations - Louise Erdrich with Gail Caldwell
- Interview on Democracy Now - YouTube
Reviews
- Bookreporter.com review of The Painted Drum
- Blood Relations review of The Plague of Doves in The New York Review of BooksThe New York Review of BooksThe New York Review of Books is a fortnightly magazine with articles on literature, culture and current affairs. Published in New York City, it takes as its point of departure that the discussion of important books is itself an indispensable literary activity...
- NPR - Louise Erdrich and The Painted Drum by Martha Woodroof
- Harper Collins reading guide for The Painted Drum