The Red Convertible | Author Biography

Louise Erdrich (birth name, Karen Louise Erdrich) was born on June 7 (some sources say July 6), 1954, in Little Falls, Minnesota. She was the first of seven children born to Ralph and Rita Joanne Gourneau Erdrich, both of whom taught for the Bureau of Indian Affairs schools. Erdrich was reared in Wahpeton, North Dakota, near the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Reservation, where her mother's parents lived. The family visited the reservation often, giving Erdrich a strong sense of her Native-American heritage. Erdrich's father was of German descent, and this part of her heritage was also fostered, although to a lesser degree.

In 1972, Erdrich entered the first co-educational class at Dartmouth College. She graduated with a degree in English in 1976 and then taught for the Poetry in the Schools Program sponsored by the North Dakota Arts Council. In 1978, she entered Johns Hopkins University where she completed a master's degree in creative writing a year later.

While at Dartmouth, Erdrich studied with Michael Dorris, a writer who was also part Native American. Dorris was an anthropologist who chaired the then-new Native American Studies program. After Erdrich graduated, she and Dorris stayed in touch and became literary companions. In 1980, Erdrich returned to Dartmouth as a writer-in-residence, and a year later she married Dorris. In addition to the three Native-American children Dorris had already adopted, he and Erdrich eventually had three children of their own. Erdrich and Dorris enjoyed a great deal of success as literary collaborators until their separation in 1995. Two years later, Dorris committed suicide.

Erdrich's first novel, Love Medicine (1984), includes fourteen stand-alone chapters united by common characters, themes, and the setting—a Chippewa reservation in North Dakota. One of these stand-alone chapters is ‘‘The Red Convertible." Over the years, Erdrich has written numerous novels and collections of poetry. Her most recent works include the children's book the novel Grandmother's Pigeon (1996) and the novel The Antelope Wife (1998).

Erdrich is known for her insightful, moving, and sometimes amusing depictions of modern Chippewa life. Because so much of her work is set in North Dakota Chippewa communities, Erdrich is often compared to William Faulkner whose fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, provided the backdrop for his literary vision of the South. Erdrich is also compared to Faulkner because of her regional focus, imagery, and fragmented narrative style.