LOUISE ERDRICH
The eldest of seven children, Louise Erdrich was born in Little Falls, Minnesota
on July 6, 1954. She grew up in Wahpeton, North Dakota where her parents taught
at the Bureau of Indian Affairs school. At an early age Erdrich was encouraged
by her parents to write stories. Her father paid her a nickel a story and her
mother made covers for her first books. In high school, Erdrich continued her
writing by keeping a journal.
In 1972, Erdrich was among the first women admitted to Dartmouth College. She
majored in English and creative writing, and took courses in the Native American
Studies program headed by her future husband, Michael Dorris. She graduated in
1976.
In 1979, Erdrich earned her Master of Arts degree in writing from John Hopkins
University. For her thesis Erdrich wrote poetry that would later be published in
the collection Jacklight. She also began writing her novel Tracks. After John
Hopkins, Erdrich worked at The Circle, the Boston Indian Council Newspaper.
Erdrich met Michael Dorris again when she was invited to return to Dartmouth to
read her work. The two exchanged addresses and began a lengthy correspondence
while he was in New Zealand and she in New Hampshire. In 1981 Erdrich returned
to Dartmouth as a writer-in-residence in the Native American Studies Program.
Dorris returned to Dartmouth that same year and the two were married in October
of 1981.
Erdrich's marriage to Dorris began not only a domestic partnership but also a
literary one. Dorris became a collaborator and agent for Erdrich. The two first
wrote romantic fiction under the name Milou North to earn extra money. Milou was
a combination of their first names, and north referred to their location. They
also collaborated on Erdrich's other novels for which Dorris offered editorial
suggestions on Erdrich's writing. Only two works, however, contain both Erdrich's
and Dorris's names, The Crown of Columbus and Route Two, a collection of travel
essays.
As Erdrich's agent, Dorris persuaded Henry Holt and Company to publish Jacklight
and convinced Erdrich to compete for the Nelson Algren Fiction Award. Erdrich
won this $5,000 award in 1982 with "The World's Greatest Fisherman." This story
later became the opening chapter for Love Medicine.
Dorris had adopted three children when he was single. Erdrich also adopted them
and the couple had three more children together. In 1991, their oldest child was
killed in a car accident. Additional family problems put a strain on the
marriage and the two separated after fifteen years of marriage. In 1997, Dorris
committed suicide. Later Erdrich revealed that her husband had been depressed
and suicidal during their marriage. Erdrich moved to Minneapolis, only a few
hours away from her parents in North Dakota.
Erdrich's fiction is influenced both by her heritage and her life experiences.
Her father's parents ran a butcher shop. Jacklight contains a section of poems
entitled "The Butcher's Wife." A butcher shop is also featured in her novels The
Beet Queen and Tracks. After college one of her many jobs was waitressing.
Waitresses appear in several of her works.
Love Medicine is Erdrich's first and most critically acclaimed novel. It was
originally published in 1984 and republished in an expanded form in 1993.
Erdrich received the National Book Critics Circle Award for Best Fiction for
Love Medicine. It is the first of a series of novels that are interconnected
with one another. The other novels are The Beet Queen, Tracks, The Bingo Palace,
Tales of Burning Love, and to a much lesser degree The Antelope Wife.
Erdrich has also won the Pushcart Prize in Poetry, the O. Henry Prize for short
fiction, the Western Literary Association Award, received a Guggenheim
Fellowship, and several of her stories have appeared in The Best American Short
Stories series. Erdrich's short fiction has also appeared in the New Yorker,
Harper's Magazine, Atlantic Monthly, and Paris Review. She is one of few
American Indian writers who are widely read.
The eldest of seven children, Louise Erdrich was born in Little Falls, Minnesota
on July 6, 1954. She grew up in Wahpeton, North Dakota where her parents taught
at the Bureau of Indian Affairs school. At an early age Erdrich was encouraged
by her parents to write stories. Her father paid her a nickel a story and her
mother made covers for her first books. In high school, Erdrich continued her
writing by keeping a journal.
In 1972, Erdrich was among the first women admitted to Dartmouth College. She
majored in English and creative writing, and took courses in the Native American
Studies program headed by her future husband, Michael Dorris. She graduated in
1976.
In 1979, Erdrich earned her Master of Arts degree in writing from John Hopkins
University. For her thesis Erdrich wrote poetry that would later be published in
the collection Jacklight. She also began writing her novel Tracks. After John
Hopkins, Erdrich worked at The Circle, the Boston Indian Council Newspaper.
Erdrich met Michael Dorris again when she was invited to return to Dartmouth to
read her work. The two exchanged addresses and began a lengthy correspondence
while he was in New Zealand and she in New Hampshire. In 1981 Erdrich returned
to Dartmouth as a writer-in-residence in the Native American Studies Program.
Dorris returned to Dartmouth that same year and the two were married in October
of 1981.
Erdrich's marriage to Dorris began not only a domestic partnership but also a
literary one. Dorris became a collaborator and agent for Erdrich. The two first
wrote romantic fiction under the name Milou North to earn extra money. Milou was
a combination of their first names, and north referred to their location. They
also collaborated on Erdrich's other novels for which Dorris offered editorial
suggestions on Erdrich's writing. Only two works, however, contain both Erdrich's
and Dorris's names, The Crown of Columbus and Route Two, a collection of travel
essays.
As Erdrich's agent, Dorris persuaded Henry Holt and Company to publish Jacklight
and convinced Erdrich to compete for the Nelson Algren Fiction Award. Erdrich
won this $5,000 award in 1982 with "The World's Greatest Fisherman." This story
later became the opening chapter for Love Medicine.
Dorris had adopted three children when he was single. Erdrich also adopted them
and the couple had three more children together. In 1991, their oldest child was
killed in a car accident. Additional family problems put a strain on the
marriage and the two separated after fifteen years of marriage. In 1997, Dorris
committed suicide. Later Erdrich revealed that her husband had been depressed
and suicidal during their marriage. Erdrich moved to Minneapolis, only a few
hours away from her parents in North Dakota.
Erdrich's fiction is influenced both by her heritage and her life experiences.
Her father's parents ran a butcher shop. Jacklight contains a section of poems
entitled "The Butcher's Wife." A butcher shop is also featured in her novels The
Beet Queen and Tracks. After college one of her many jobs was waitressing.
Waitresses appear in several of her works.
Love Medicine is Erdrich's first and most critically acclaimed novel. It was
originally published in 1984 and republished in an expanded form in 1993.
Erdrich received the National Book Critics Circle Award for Best Fiction for
Love Medicine. It is the first of a series of novels that are interconnected
with one another. The other novels are The Beet Queen, Tracks, The Bingo Palace,
Tales of Burning Love, and to a much lesser degree The Antelope Wife.
Erdrich has also won the Pushcart Prize in Poetry, the O. Henry Prize for short
fiction, the Western Literary Association Award, received a Guggenheim
Fellowship, and several of her stories have appeared in The Best American Short
Stories series. Erdrich's short fiction has also appeared in the New Yorker,
Harper's Magazine, Atlantic Monthly, and Paris Review. She is one of few
American Indian writers who are widely read.