When Montgomery Fellow Louise Erdrich '76 wrote her first novel, "Love Medicine," in 1984, she did not think anyone would read it, Erdrich said in an interview with The Dartmouth. Today, Erdrich is a bestselling author of over 25 works of Native American literature, including "The Plague of Doves," a finalist for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
Erdrich read from an unpublished version of her novel "The Antelope Wife," which was first published in 1998, to a packed audience in Cook Auditorium on Wednesday afternoon. The story Erdrich presented, which she called "different than most of [her] work," focused on the rich relationships of native Ojibwa peoples, and in particular the tale of a man named Klaus Showano who is nearly destroyed by his infatuation with an antelope woman a seductive creature of legend.
As the College's current Montgomery Fellow, Erdrich has been in residence on campus since April 30, according to Richard Stamelman, the executive director of the Montgomery Endowment. At the conclusion of her week-long stay which will end May 6 Erdrich will attend College's annual Powwow, he said.
A member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa tribe in North Dakota, Erdrich was a student in the College's first coeducational class. Although she said she "wasn't really phased" by the recent change, she called herself "perhaps the most awkward freshman who ever came to Dartmouth." Erdrich said her life was shaped by her time at the College.
"I was challenged here as never before and I was also nurtured intellectually as never before," she said.
Erdrich maintains a strong involvement on campus, and delivered the College's Commencement address in 2009, The Dartmouth previously reported.
In addition to presenting the Montgomery lecture on Wednesday, Erdrich has met with undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty members while on campus. She has also visited classes in the Native American studies department and the creative writing program, according to Stamelman.
Native American studies professor Bruce Duthu '80 invited Erdrich to lead his course Native American Literature and Law this week, he said. Erdrich's strength as an author largely lies in her ability to retell tribal history that is often misunderstood, Duthu said.
"My particular interest is the way that law has shaped the relationship between tribes and the United States government, and I have been able to incorporate many of [Edrich]'s works into my class," he said.
Duthu has known Erdrich since 1976 when they overlapped as students at the College, he said.
"I remember her as a shy but friendly person who always had a wonderful smile like she still does today," Duthu said. "But she very much flew under the radar in terms of her involvement on campus. I didn't know about her love and talent for writing at that time, but now I certainly do."
During Erdrich's visit to Duthu's class, Erdrich encouraged the students to offer comments and critiques of her latest novel "The Roundhouse," which has not yet been published.
"The chance for my students to study from an author of [Erdrich]'s caliber is just unparalleled," Duthu said. "But for her to be able to listen to critiques by my students of one of her own works in progress and for her to be listening openly to these is just an unbelievable experience."
Erdrich cited several professors at the College who were "instrumental" in her development as both a writer and student, including English professor Donald Pease who taught Erdrich in his American drama class.
"Despite the fact that the class was very large, she nevertheless distinguished herself in written work and in classroom discussion," Pease said. "She did quite well in my class."
Many of the stories Pease remembers about Erdrich did not take place in his classroom, but in the mailroom in Sanborn House, he said. Pease said he was "not surprised in the least" of Erdrich's success as an author.
"Everyone in the English department had stories about her remarkable imagination," Pease said. "[English professor] Brenda Silver would often come to the mailroom to report on [Erdrich]'s latest paper."
Silver taught Erdrich in a First-Year Writing Seminar, titled Paranoia and Beyond. Erdrich was an "eager learner" who was "interested in everything," Silver said.
Silver said she began teaching at the College during the same year that Erdrich entered as a freshman. Silver also advised a two-term English Foreign Study Program in London in which Erdrich participated.
Montgomery Fellows are chosen through a selection process led by the Montgomery steering committee, in which any member of the Dartmouth community can submit nominations, Stamelman said. Erdrich did not undergo this nomination process because she was previously a Fellow in 1993, he said.
"The reason we chose to invite her back was because she's such an extraordinary writer who deals with not only the history, language and lives of Natives but also because she deals with general, universal questions about love, loss and relationships," Stamelman said. "So in many ways even though the source of her material is Native American, the effect goes beyond that and touches upon themes of the human condition."
The Dartmouth community's reaction to Erdrich's selection as a Montgomery Fellow has been "fantastic," according to Stamelman.
"She's just what a Fellow should be," he said. "She's an inspiring individual with exceptional talent and accomplishment and is someone who knows how to interact with undergraduates and inspire them."
Erdrich's daughter, Aza Erdrich Dorris '11, did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
Staff writer Amelia Acosta contributed to the reporting of the article.
