Erdrich has authored three poetry collections, including the recently re-issued “Fishing for Myth” from New Rivers Press. She also authored, “The Mother’s Tongue,” Salt Publishing’s Earthworks series, and co-edited, “Sister Nations: Native American Women on Community,” from the Minnesota Historical Society Press. Erdrich has been the recipient of two Minnesota State Arts Board fellowships, awards from The Loft Literary Center, the Archibald Bush Foundation and has four times been nominated for the Minnesota Book Award.

"National Monuments" is about nations and ownership, how we look at the land around us and at the human body,” says Anoka-Ramsey Community College English faculty member, Kathryn Kysar. “Humorous and poignant, Erdrich's third book of poetry speaks from an indigenous perspective and raises the question 'Whose land is this?'  We are thrilled to have this renowned poet and teacher coming to our campus."

A member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibway, Erdrich grew up in Wahpeton, N.D. She earned degrees from Dartmouth College and The Johns Hopkins University Writing Seminars. She and her sister Louise Erdrich recently co-founded a non-profit clearinghouse for indigenous language-centered literature called Birchbark House.

For more information about the Visiting Writer program, contact Kysar at Kate.Kysar@anokaramsey.edu.