Author Louise Erdrich to Visit the Kenyon Review Literary Festival in Gambier

GAMBIER, Ohio (October 21, 2009)

Louise Erdrich, author of Love Medicine and The Plague of Doves, will deliver the keynote address at the Kenyon Review Literary Festival on Nov. 7 on the Kenyon College campus.

"An Evening with Louise Erdrich," part of the Denham Sutcliffe Memorial Lecture Series, includes a reading and discussion by the author in Rosse Hall, 105 College Dr., at 8 p.m. Tickets are free and are available through advance registration at www.kenyonreview.org. A book-signing and reception will follow the Erdrich address.

Erdrich is a member of the Ojibwe nation of American Indians. Her 1984 novel Love Medicine is an account of the lives of Native Americans on a fictional North Dakota reservation.

She will receive the 2009 Kenyon Review Award for Literary Achievement at a gala dinner in the Four Seasons Restaurant in New York City on Nov. 5. The prize honors careers of extraordinary achievement, recognizing writers whose influence and importance have shaped the American literary landscape.

"Louise Erdrich is one of the most interesting, powerful, and deeply moving novelists in America," said David Lynn, editor of the Kenyon Review and professor of English. "Her books chronicle a complex interplay of peoples, families, cultures, and religions in ways that are timely and important."

The literary festival is a celebration of literature, featuring readings, workshops, and a book sale. Coordinated by the Kenyon Review staff, the literary festival initiated Knox Reads!, a community-wide reading and discussion program in 2007. A $10,000 Big Read grant from the National Endowment for the Arts this year has provided for the free distribution of hundreds of copies of Love Medicine. A series of public events and discussions about the novel have taken place in libraries and schools in Knox County and online at www.kenyonreview.org.

Lynn described Love Medicine as a tour de force. "But perhaps more important, it stripped away the sense of Native Americans as in some way exotic or separate from other Americans," Lynn said. "In Love Medicine and her other work, Erdrich demonstrates the deep interpenetration of Native cultures and families with other American communities."

Free events at the literary festival on Nov. 4 include:

• Brown Bag Chat on the life and work of Erdrich, with Judy Smith, Kenyon professor of English. Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County, Mount Vernon. Noon.
• Writers' Harvest, readings to benefit Food for the Hungry. Donations accepted at the door. Peirce Hall, 201 College-Park St. 8 p.m.

On Nov. 5:

• Love Medicine discussion. Olin Library, 103 College Dr. 4:30 p.m.
• Readings by XOXOX Press authors Fred Andrle, Charlene Fix, and Loranne Temple. Finn House, 102 W. Wiggin St. 7 p.m.

On Nov. 6:

• The Kenyon College Craft Center Empty Bowls Dinner and auction of ceramic bowls to raise money for Food for the Hungry. Peirce Hall. 5:30 p.m.
• Ojibwe poetry reading, book-signing, and reception featuring Kimberly Blaeser, Heid Erdrich, and Gordon Henry. Peirce Hall. 7:30 p.m.

On November 7:

• Council of Literary Magazines and Presses Midwest Literary Magazine Fair and book sale. Peirce Hall. 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
• Kenyon authors reading, featuring Professor of English Jennifer Clarvoe, Visiting Assistant Professor of English Thomas Hawks, Associate Professor of English Janet McAdams, and Professor of English Judy Smith. Peirce Hall. 10 a.m.
• "Love Medicine: Trickster Figures and the Transformation of the Reader," a seminar led by Linda Krumholz, associate professor of English at Denison University. Peirce Hall. 11 a.m.
• Panel discussion on contemporary Ojibwe writing, moderated by McAdams. Peirce Hall. 1 p.m.
• Love Medicine book discussion with Lynn and Sergei Lobanov-Rostovsky, associate editor of the Kenyon Review, in a continuation of the online book discussion. Peirce Hall. 2 p.m.
• Kenyon authors reading, featuring Professor Emeritus of English Galbraith Crump, Affiliated Scholar in English Gretchen Henderson, Writer-in-Residence P.F. Kluge, and Assistant Professor of English Patsy Vigderman. Peirce Hall. 3 p.m.
• Lipsha's Journey, a theatrical version of Love Medicine. Storer Hall, 105 College Dr. 4 p.m.
• "An Evening with Louise Erdrich." Rosse Hall. 8 p.m.

The festival is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, First-Knox National Bank, the Community Foundation of Mount Vernon and Knox County, Denham Sutcliffe Memorial Lecture Series, the Kenyon Review, and the Ohio Arts Council. Media sponsorship is provided by WOSU Public Media. Community support is provided by the Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County, the friends of the Library, Paragraphs Bookstore, WNZR, and the WOSU Public Media.

Visit www.kenyonreview.org for more information on the literary festival. The Kenyon Review, founded in 1939 at Kenyon, is an independent, international literary journal in print and online. Kenyon College, founded in 1824, is a highly selective liberal arts college with about 1,600 undergraduate students.