Louise ErDrich Author Presentation by : Brooke White American Literature 1865 to present English 2205 Summer / Dr. Carter

Who is Louise Erdrich  Real Name  Real Name : Karen Louise Erdrich American Author:  American Author: writes a lot novels, poetry, and children books (Native American Culture) Writing Style  Writing Style : easy, off hand, quietly, unostentatious, unpredictable, and sense of surprise. Interest in Writing  Interest in Writing : passionate, complex individuals, mixed blood, Native Americans, German American, or Anglo fiction  First Novel :  First Novel : was Love Medicine, which won the National Book Critics Circle award for 1984

Louise ErDrich’s Early Life  Born:  Born: June 7, 1954 (oldest of the seven children)  Mother was Ojibwe descent, Farther was German  Born in Little Falls, Minnesota  Lived most of her life Wahpeton, North Dakota  Both of her parents taught at the Bureau of Indian Affairs school  She is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians

Adult Years of Erdrich  Attended Darthmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire  Participated in Native American study program  Became an editor for The Circle, a newspaper produced by the urban Native population in Boston.  Married college sweet mate Michael Dorris  Michael was anthropologist, writer, & director of the Dartmouth’s Native American Studies program.  Earned a Master of Arts degree in creative writing at Johns Hopkins University

Adult Years Continued o Before and after college Louise Erdrich worked in a wide variety of jobs, including a lifeguard, waitress, poetry teacher at prisons, and construction flag signaler. o Marriage became worst after their second year of marriage  Had six children all together  Three children of their own  Three Children adopted  One Child died in 1991 from being hit by a car at the age of 23 o Michael Dorris committed suicide on April 10, 1997 in Concord o Erdrich lives in Minnesota with her children, who help her run a small independent bookstore called The Birchbark.

Awards & Accomplishments  O. Henry Award, for the short story "Fleur" (published in Esquire, August 1986) (1987)  Pushcart Prize in Poetry  Western Literacy Association Award  National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, for Love Medicine (1984)  World Fantasy Award, for The Antelope Wife (1999)[  Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers' Circle of the Americas (2000).  Associate Poet Laureate of North Dakota, 2005  Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, for the children's book "The Game of Silence" (2006)  In June 2009, received an honorary doctorate (Doctor of Letters) from Dartmouth College upon giving the 2009 Graduation Commencement Address

Literary Work & Materpieces  Erdrich's first book of poems was published  1984-Love Medicine which won the National Book Critics Circle Award Love Medicine eventually became the first novel in a remarkable series that would include  THE BEET QUEEN (1986)  TRACKS (1988)  THE BINGO PALACE (1994)  TALES OF BURNING LOVE (1996)  THE ANTELOPE WIFE (1998)  FOUR SOULS (2004).  THE MASTER BUTCHERS SINGING CLUB was published in.  THE CROWN OF COLUMBUS (1991), written with Michael Dorris), another book of poetry BAPTISM OF DESIRE (1989), and THE LAST REPORT ON THE MIRACLES AT LITTLE NO HORSE (2001), a finalist for the National Book Award. She has written of art, infancy, and the natural world in her first work of nonfiction, THE BLUE JAY'S DANCE (1995).  Her most recent novel, THE PAINTED DRUM, was published in 2005

Key Points in Career / Writing  Postmodernism Time Period  Centered around Native American Cultures (Anglo)  Studied/ Wrote about her own families generation (Ojibwe)  Used Realistic Fiction  Lyric resources  Storytelling

Closing

Citations 1. ewsmakers2/2005-A-Fi/Erdrich-Louise.html 2. ewsmakers2/2005-A-Fi/Erdrich-Louise.html 3. velist-poet-essayist-louise-erdrich-76-at- dartmouth-as-montgomery-fellow/ 4. vel/timeline/erdrich.html 5. /resource/erdrich.shtm 6. (2012). The norton anthology american literature. (8 ed., Vol. e). New York: W.W.Norton&Company FYe-GtX0