My favorite short story writer, Louise Erdrich, may be best known for her longer works, but her short stories are a model for the genre. Through her attention to detail in setting, character development and word choice, Erdrich creates rich, full stories within the short format.
Erdrich was born June 7, 1954 in Little Falls, Minnesota to a German American father and French Ojibwe mother. She is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and her heritage has greatly influenced her subject matter and writing style. She began a career as a storyteller early in life; as a child her mother created covers for the books Louise wrote and her father bought them for a nickel. She was one of the first women ever admitted to Dartmouth College where she majored in English and attended classes in Native American Studies. Later she earned an MFA at John Hopkins University and began the collection of poetry that would later be published and titled Jacklight.
Erdrich met Michael Dorris at Dartmouth when she was invited back to read from Jacklight. The two married in 1981. Dorris had already adopted three children by the time of their marriage. Erdrich also adopted the children and she and Dorris had three biological children together. Sadly, Dorris, a long-time sufferer of depression, took his life in 1997.
Erdrich’s first and most critically successful book, Love Medicine was first published in 1984. Expanded and revised editions followed in 1994 and 2006. Like several of Erdrich’s longer works, Love Medicine is a series of interconnected short works, many of which stand on their own as short stories. In 1982, Erdrich entered and won the Nelson Algren fiction competition with a short story titled “The World’s Greatest Fisherman” and later was honored with the O. Henry Award for short story for “Saint Marie.” The two short pieces are also chapters one and two of Love Medicine.
Writing about the lives and experiences of Native Americans is only part of what Erdrich does. She writes as a Native American, employing the realistic settings, spiritual concepts and speech mannerisms that many Native readers applaud and appreciate.
While she is certainly not the only woman of Native American descent writing fiction today, Erdrich is perhaps the best known and best selling. A comprehensive collection of her short works, The Red Convertible, is the perfect book for those just entering the world of Erdrich’s short fiction or for those who list her as a favorite short story writer.
Resources:
http://www.unl.edu/plains/publications/resource/erdrich.shtml
http://voices.cla.umn.edu/artistpages/erdrichLouise.php
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2455/is_n4_v33/ai_20906638/