Major Issues
Author Links
Essay Questions

Major Issues

Poet and prose writer Louise Erdrich describes herself as a storyteller. Erdrich’s exploration of life on a fictional North Dakota reservation has provided her with enough material for four collections of linked short stories. "Linked," critics note, but not linear. Both Erdrich and her critics describe the shape of her work as cyclical. Erdrich employs many different narrators, and considerable humor, to present a non-judgmental, and non-chronological, record of three generations of families on the reservation. The search for individual identity within a community has been identified as a major theme in Erdrich’s fiction. Reviewers and scholars have also remarked on the poetic qualities of her prose. Erdrich’s literary works are often compared and studied along with those of other late 20th century Native American writers.

Author Links

Voices From the Gaps
Lengthy bio-critical essay, followed by works and criticism lists.

Louise Erdrich
The Modern American Poetry website provides biographical and autobiographical material, along with links to online interviews and other sites.

Native Authors: Louise Erdrich
Biographical essay on Erdrich, highlighting the Native American themes in her work.

The Creative Instinct
"Salon" interview in which Erdrich talks about her characters, landscape, motherhood, and labels.