Louise Erdrich, who lives, writes and owns a bookstore in Minneapolis, has won the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction.
The honor, announced Monday night, goes to the author of a string of critically acclaimed novels, most of which center on the Indian experience in contemporary and historic America.
Erdrich's novels include "Love Medicine," "The Plague of Doves," "The Beet Queen" and her most recent book, "The Round House," for which she won the National Book Award in 2012. She also has published poetry, nonfiction and children's literature.
"Throughout a remarkable string of virtuosic novels, Louise Erdrich has portrayed her fellow Native Americans as no contemporary American novelist ever has, exploring—in intimate and fearless ways—the myriad cultural challenges that indigenous and mixed-race Americans face," said James Billington, Librarian of Congress, in a statement.
"Her prose manages to be at once lyrical and gritty, magical yet unsentimental, connecting a dreamworld of Ojibwe legend to stark realities of the modern-day. And yet, for all the bracing originality of her work, her fiction is deeply rooted in the American literary tradition."
Billington chose Erdrich based on the recommendation of a panel of authors and literary critics.
Erdrich, who was born in Little Falls, Minn., in 1954, is the third winner of this award. Previous winners are E.L. Doctorow (2014) and Don DeLillo (2013).
She will be given the award at the 2015 Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. Sept. 5.
CLAUDE PECK
