Louise Erdrich and her book, The Sentence. Photo by Jenn Ackerman
From the
Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich joins the ÑÇÉ«Ó°¿â community on International Women’s Day, March 8. The 2023 Bonnie Jean and Joan Kelly Visiting Scholar, Erdrich will reference her New York Times-bestselling and most recently published novel, The Sentence, in her keynote.
Irene Green:
I am thrilled that The O’Shaughnessy is able to host Louise Erdrich as part of St. Kate’s 2022–23 Integrated Learning Series (ILS) — and on International Women’s Day, no less!
As the new executive director for The O’Shaughnessy, I have been thinking a lot about how our programming can connect in multiple ways to the mission, vision, and values of St. Kate’s. I love that Jeff Johnson, PhD, (associate dean for the School of Humanities, Arts, and Sciences and one of our ILS leaders) has put a focus on local and regional Indigenous thought leadership. Erdrich’s roots in Minneapolis will allow us to connect to her life story with a specificity that can deepen our understanding of ourselves and our own experiences.
Irene Green (photo by Rebecca Zenefski Slater ’10)
I plan to apply this same concept with the programming choices we make at The O’Shaughnessy next season — primarily by curating local and regional arts organizations whose missions align with St. Kate’s to light up The O’Shaughnessy with a local and regional point of view about women’s leadership, social justice, and what it means to be in community on a campus and in a city changing rapidly before our very eyes. Art can ground us, take the breath out of us, and then put it back in and fill us up. I know Erdrich will do the same.
Irene Green is the executive director of The O’Shaughnessy. A 20-year veteran of arts administration, she joined the University in July 2022.
Sofia Vanderlan ’26
The Sentence is a hauntingly beautiful novel that follows an Ojibwe woman’s experience with the prison system, and then her months leading up to and during the COVID-19 pandemic — not to mention encounters with a ghost, debates over wild rice, stealing a dead body, and so many book suggestions.
Erdrich creates a rich and twisting story that will keep you reading. The novel feels close. Perhaps it is the Twin Cities setting, perhaps it is the characters who remind me of so many of my relatives and acquaintances, or perhaps it is the occasional inclusion of the Ojibwe language. Whatever it may be — The Sentence is incredible. Erdrich offers an Indigenous perspective in the context of the Black Lives Matter movement and got me thinking about what it means to truly be Native.
Sofia Vanderlan ’26
My favorite part of the novel was when jingle dress dancers went to George Floyd Square to help heal the community. My mother is a jingle dress dancer and, like one of the characters in The Sentence, I have danced in my mother’s dress. While reading, I could hear the jingles, see the dresses, and feel their movements. It was a powerful moment. If you do not know what jingle dress dancing is, I encourage you to look up videos and then listen to them as you read that particular section of The Sentence. If you are interested in picking up The Sentence, please make the trip to Birchbark Books in Minneapolis. Birchbark Books is run by Louise Erdrich and is the main setting of The Sentence. Miigwech, Louise Erdrich, for writing this wonderful novel and so many other works of poetry and prose!
Sofia Vanderlan ’26, pictured with traditional Ojibwe beadwork she created, is a first-year student majoring in English and Indigenous studies. She is a descendant of the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
Louise Erdrich (left) holding the traditional Ojibwe beadwork that Sofia Vanderlan ’26 (right) created for her.