Erdrich Receives Aspen Words Literary Prize

Louise Erdrich has won this year’s Aspen Words Literary Prize for her 16th novel, The Night Watchman (Harper). The Aspen Words prize, which carries a $35,000 purse, is awarded each year to “a work of fiction that illuminates vital contemporary issues” and “demonstrates the transformative power of literature on thought and culture.” The novel was inspired by her grandfather’s life, Erdrich noted during last night's virtual awards ceremony after she was given the award by Aspen Words executive director Adrienne Brodeur and head prize judge Emily Bernard.

Erdrich, describing her grandfather as  "one of the dwindling number of first speakers of the Ojibwe language, in addition to all his activism" promised that the prize money she receives will go towards efforts to revitalize the Ojibwe language. Erdrich owns Birchbark Books and Native Arts in Minneapolis, which stocks the largest number of books on the Ojibwe language and culture of any bookstore in the U.S.

Aspen Words, which sponsors the prize is a program of the Aspen Institute, a global nonprofit organization dedicated to achieving a  “free, just, and equitable” society.