Congratulations to Louise Erdrich and Natalie Diaz on their 2021 Pulitizer Prizes!
Louise Erdrich, a member of the Turtle Mountain Ojibwe is the second Native American novelist to win the fiction prize. Her work, The Night Watchman is based on her grandfather “who worked as a night watchman and carried the fight against Native dispossession from rural North Dakota all the way to Washington, D.C., this powerful novel explores themes of love and death with lightness and gravity and unfolds with the elegant prose, sly humor, and depth of feeling of a master craftsman” (publisher).
Natalie Diaz, Mojave/Pima, is the first Native American author to win the Pulitzer for poetry. Her collection of poems entitled, Postcolonial Love Poem, is described by the Pulitzer website as “an anthem of desire against erasure”.
The Night Watchman and Postcolonial Love Poem are both available for check-out from the New Mexico State Library. The Night Watchman is also available as an e-book and an e-audio book.
Congratulations to these well-deserved recipients!