Kimberly Blaeser

Kimberly Blaeser (Anishinaabe) is an enrolled member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe and grew up on the White Earth Reservation. After graduating from Mahnomen high school and the College of St. Benedict in Minnesota, she worked for two years as a journalist before enrolling in graduate school. She earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in English from the University of Notre Dame. Currently an Associate Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, she teaches courses in Native American Literature, Creative Writing, and American Nature Writing.

Blaeser, whose publications include three books and more than sixty appearances in anthologies and journals, has lectured or read from her work in over 100 locations in the United States, Canada, and Europe and been the recipient of awards for both writing and speaking. She is a past vice president of Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers and currently serves on two American Indian Literature series boards for University presses. At UW-Milwaukee Blaeser is the faculty advisor for Word Warriors, a multicultural writers' organization she helped found in 1991.

Blaeser's second collection of poems, Absentee Indians, was published by Michigan State University Press. She recently received an Artists Fellowship in Poetry from the Wisconsin Arts Board and is at work on a creative collage, Family Tree. Blaeser lives with her husband, Len Wardzala, and two young children, Gavin and Amber, in the woods and wetlands of rural Lyons township, Wisconsin.

A short biography from the Internet Public Library's Native American Author's Project is available.

Writing (and Reading) Available Online

Rewriting your Life
Family Tree
Haiku Seasons
Recite the Names of All the Suicided Indians
A selection of work from Absentee Indians in The Other Voices International Project
A Gathering of Voices: Four Milwaukee Writers includes Kim
Kim reading on Hotel Milwaukee, I, a Wisconsin Public Radio weekly show
Kim reading on Hotel Milwaukee, II, a Wisconsin Public Radio weekly show

Awards

Kim has just been named 2002 Wordcrafter of the Year by the Word Craft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers, as well as 2002 Wordcraft Circle Writer of the Year in Creative Prose: Personal Essay for her contribution to The Voices We Carry in After Confession: Poetry as Autobiography. Kate Sontag and David Graham, (eds.), Gray Wolf Press. In 2001, Kim received a Wisconsin Arts Board Fellowship in poetry. In 1999, she was named Storyteller of the Year for her lectures and public speaking by Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers. She was the recipient of the Diane Decorah First Book Award in Poetry from the Native Writers' Circle of the Americas for Trailing You and in 1998 one of Blaeser's poems was selected for permanent installation as a sculptured doorway in the Midwest Express Building in Milwaukee.

Kim had one of her talks chosen by Writers' Conferences and Festivals for inclusion in the organization's anthology of the best lectures given in 1992 and was chosen to inaugurate the Western Canada Lecture Series in 1995. She has been the recipient of fellowships from the Center for Twentieth Century Studies, Squaw Valley Community of Writers, University of Wisconsin Institute on Race and Ethnicity, and the Newberry Library D'Arcy McNickle Center for the History of the American Indian.

Books by Kimberly Blaeser

Apprenticed to Justice, Salt Pub.
Traces in Blood, Bone, and Stone: Contemporary Ojibwe Poetry, (as Editor), Loonfeather Press: Minnesota.
Absentee Indians and Other Poems, Michigan State University Press. (Poetry) [2002]
Stories Migrating Home: A Collection of Anishnaabe Prose, (as Editor), Loonfeather Press: Minnesota.: Featuring the work of 30 contemporary Ojibway writers including Louise Erdrich, Gerald Vizenor, Gordon Henry, Denise Sweet, Armand Ruffo, Kateri Damm and Jim Northrup.
This book may be ordered from Loonfeather Press, P.O. Box 1212, Bemidji, MN 56619
Trailing You: Poems, Greenfield Review Press.: A short review of Trailing You by D.L. Birchfield
Gerald Vizenor : Writing in Oral Tradition, by Kimberly M. Blaeser,: University of Oklahoma Press. (Visit the Gerald Vizenor website.); A review from: World Literature Today by Robert Allen Warrior
A review from: MELUS by Linda Rouse

Anthologies Containing Kimberly Blaeser's Work

Poetry

Sister Nations, Heid Erdrich and Laura Tohe (Editors), New Rivers Press. [Available now.]
After Confession: Poetry As Autobiography, Kate Sontag & David Graham (Editors), Graywolf Press.
Skins: Contemporary Indigenous Writing, Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm, Josie Douglas (Editors),: Kegedonce Press.
Nothing But the Truth: An Anthology of Native American Literature,: John L. Purdy & James Ruppert (Editors), Prentice Hall.
Gatherings: The En'owkin Journal of the First North American Peoples,: Volume X, A Retrospective of the First Decade, Greg Young-Ing & Florene Belmore (Editors), Theytus Books.
South Dakota Review: Native American Writers 2000, Vol. 38, No. 1 (Spring 2000)
Rampike: Aboriginal Perspectives, Vol. 11, No. 2
My Home as I Remember, Lee Maracle & Sandra Laronde (Editors), Natural Heritage Books.
Luna: A New Journal of Poetry and Translation, ed. Ray Gonzalez, V. 1.1 (Spring 1998)
Reinventing the Enemy's Language: Contemporary Native Women's Writing of North America: (Edited by Joy Harjo and Gloria Bird), W.W. Norton.
Gatherings: The En'owkin Journal of the First North American Peoples,: Volume VIII, Shaking the Belly, Releasing the Sacred Clown, Joyce B. Joe and Susan M. Beaver (Editors), Theytus Books.
The Cimarron Review, special issue ed. Michael Wilson, No. 121 (October 1997)
Gatherings: The En'owkin Journal of the First North American Peoples,: Volume VII, Standing Ground: Strength and Solidarity Amidst Dissolving Boundaries, Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm and Jeanette Armstrong (Editors), Theytus Books.
Native American Songs and Poems : An Anthology (Dover Thrift Editions),: Brian Swann (Editor), Dover Pubns.
The Cream City Review, V. 19.2 (Spring 1996)
Steam Ticket: A Third Coast Review, V. 1 (Spring 1996)
News from the Sloughs, V. 1, No. 8 (December 1995)
Saint Paul Pioneer Press, 26 August 1995, D10.
Dreaming History : A Collection of Wisconsin Native-American Writing,: Mary Anne Doan & Jim Stevens (Editors), Prairie Oak Press.
Sustaining the Forest, the People, & the Spirit,: Denise Sweet & J. D. Whitney (Editors), College of the Menominee Nation Press.
Nebraska English Journal: Native Heritage, special ed. Carter Revard, V. 38, No. 2, 1993.
Unsettling America : An Anthology of Contemporary Multicultural Poetry,: Maria M. Gillan, Jennifer Gillan (Editors), Penguin USA
Wildfire: Volume One: Inner Weavings, Peter Whalen (Editor), The Mixed Bag.
Returning the Gift: Poetry and Prose from the First North American Native Writers' Festival: (Sun Tracks Books, No 29) University of Arizona Press.
Gatherings: The En'owkin Journal of the First North American Peoples,,: Volume V , Celebrating the Circle: Recognizing Women and Children in Restoring the Balance, Beth Cuthand and William George (Editors), Theytus Books.
Durable Breath : Contemporary Native American Poetry,: John E. Smelcer, D. L. Birchfield (Editors), Salmon Run Pub.
The Colour of Resistance : A Contemporary Collection of Writing by Aboriginal Women: Connie Fife (Editor), Sister Vision Press.
Dreams & Secrets, Judy Woodburn & Jane Kermsreiter (Editors),: Woodland Pattern Book Center.
Gatherings: The En'owkin Journal of the First North American Peoples, IV,: Re-Generation: Expanding the Web to Claim Our Future. Don Fiddler (Editor), Theytus Books.
Studies in American Indian Literatures, Series 2, V. 4, No. 4 (Winter 1992)
Gatherings: The En'owkin Journal of the First North American Peoples, ,: Volume III, Mother Earth Perspectives: Preservation Through Words, Greg Young-Ing, Editor, Theytus Books.
Akwe:kon Journal, V. IX, No. 1 (Spring 1992)
Northeast Indian Quarterly, V. VIII, No. 3 (Fall 1991)
Loonfeather, Fall/Winter 1991.

Fiction

The Oxford Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction by Native Women in the United States: Hertha Wong, Jana Sequoya & Lauren Muller (Editors), Oxford University Press. (Forthcoming)
Short Fiction by Native American Writers, Maurice Kenny (Editor),: White Pine Press. (Forthcoming)
Stories Migrating Home: A Collection of Anishnaabe Prose,: Loonfeather Press: Minnesota.
Skins: Contemporary Indigenous Writing, Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm &: Josie Douglas (Editors), Kegedonce Press & IAD/Jukurrpa Books.
Blue Dawn, Red Earth: New Native American Storytellers, Clifford E. Trafzer: (Editor), Anchor Books.
Native-American Literature: A Brief Introduction and Anthology, Gerald Vizenor: (Harpercollins Literary Mosaic), Watson-Guptill Pubns.
Women on Hunting, Pam Houston, Ecco Press. (Hardcover)
Callaloo, V. 17, No. 1 (1994)
Earth Song, Sky Spirit: Short Stories of the Contemporary Native American Experience,: Clifford E. Trafzer (Editor), Doubleday.

Essays & Scholarly Articles: Books

Like "Reeds through the Ribs of a Basket": Native Women Weaving Stories, (critical approaches to Native American literature) : An article from: The American Indian Quarterly.
Redefining American Literary History, (book reviews) : An article from: The American Indian Quarterly.
Portage Lake: Memories of an Ojibwa Childhood, (book reviews) : An article from: The American Indian Quarterly.
After Confession: Poetry As Autobiography, Kate Sontag & David Graham (Editors), Graywolf Press.
Talking on the Page: Editing Aboriginal Texts,: Laura J. Murray & Keren Rice (Editors), Univ. Toronto Press.
"Writing Voices Speaking: Native Authors and an Oral Aesthetic."
Nothing But the Truth: An Anthology of Native American Literature,: John L. Purdy & James Ruppert (Editors), Prentice Hall.
"The Possibilities of a Native Poetics" (Introduction to the Poetry Selections).
This Giving Birth: Pregnancy and Childbirth in American Woman's Writing,: Julie Tharp and Susan MacCallum-Whitcomb(Editors), Popular Press
"The Birth of New Languages," (a creative non-fiction essay)
Native-American Writers, Harold Bloom (Editor), Chelsea Books.: "The New 'Frontier' of Native American Literature: Dis-Arming History with Tribal Humor"
Chippewa Families: A Social Study of White Earth Reservation,: M. Inez Hilger, Minnesota Historical Society Press.
Introduction by Kimberly Blaeser.
Other Sisterhoods : Literary Theory and U.S. Women of Color,: Sandra Kumamoto Stanley (Editor), University of Illinois Press. (Hardcover)
"Like 'Reeds Through the Ribs of a Basket': Native Women Weaving Stories."
Native American Writers of the United States, (Dictionary of Literary Biography, V. 175),: Kenneth M. Roemer (Editor), Gale Research.
War Cries: A Collection of Plays, by Diane Glancy, Holy Cow Press.: Introduction by Kimberly Blaeser.
Native American Perspectives on Literature and History: (American Indian Literature and Critical Studies Series, Vol 19) by Alan R. Velie (Editor), University of Oklahoma Press.
"The New 'Frontier' of Native American Literature: Dis-arming History with Tribal Humor."
Looking at the Words of Our People : First Nations Analysis of Literature: by Jeannette C. Armstrong (Editor), Theytus Book.
"Native Literature: Seeking a Critical Center."
New Voices in Native American Literary Criticism: (Smithsonian Studies in Native American Literatures), by Arnold Krupat (Editor), Smithsonian Inst Press. (Hardcover)
"The Multiple Traditions of Gerald Vizenor's Haiki Poetry."
Buried Roots and Indestructible Seeds : The Survival of American Indian Life in Story, History, and Spirit,: Martin Zanger & Mark A. Lindquist (Editors), University of Wisconsin Press. (Hardcover)
"Trickster: A Compendium" and "An Introduction."
Dear Christopher : Letters to Christopher Columbus by Contemporary Native Americans,: by Darryl Wilson (Editor), University of California Native American Studies.
Writing It Down for James : Writers on Life and Craft,: Kurt Brown (Editor), Beacon Press.
"Entering the Canon: Our place in World Literature."
Encyclopedia of North American Indians, by Frederick E. Hoxie (Editor),: Houghton Mifflin Co.
Narrative Chance : Postmodern Discourse on Native American Indian Literatures,: Gerald Vizenor (Editor) (American Indian Literature and Critical Studies, Vol 8), University of Oklahoma Press.
"The Way to Rainy Mountain: Momaday's Work in Motion."
American Indian Voices: A Regional Literacy Symposium, Faith B. Miracle,: Wisconsin Academy of Science.
Excerpts from "The Greatest American Indian Work Ever, Or What Really is Indian Literature."

Essays & Scholarly Articles: Journals

"Relativity," Wisconsin Academy Review, Vol. 46, No. 1 (Winter 1999-2000)
"Centering Words: Writing a Sense of Place," Wicazo Sa Review,: Robert Warrior & Jace Weaver (Editors), Vol. 14, No. 2 (Fall 1999)
"Like 'Reeds Through the Ribs of a Basket': Native Women Weaving Stories,": American Indian Quarterly, Special Issue: "Cultural Property in American Indian Literatures: Representation and Interpretation." Vol. 21, No.4 (Fall 1997)
"Interior Dancers: Transformations of Vizenor's Poetic Vision,": Studies in American Indian Literature, special issue ed. Louis Owens, V. 9, No. 1. (Spring 1997)
"Finding Voice in the Wastelands of Academic Silence,": AWP Chronicle, V. 28, No. 2. (October/November 1995)
"Pagans Rewriting the Bible:Heterdoxy and the Representation of Spirituality in Native American Literature,": Ariel: A Review of International English Literature, V. 25, No. 1. (January 1994)
"Entering the World Canon: Out Place in World Literature,": Akwe:kon Journal, V. X, No. 1. (Summer 1993)
"Trickster Signatures," a review of 4 books by Gerald Vizenor,: American Book Review, V. 14, No. 5. (December 1992 - January 1993)
"Learning the 'Language the Presidents Speak': Images and Issues of Literacy in American Indian Literature,": World Literature Today, V. 66, No. 2. (Spring 1992)

Books Containing Interviews with/ Autobiographical Essays by Kim

Here First, Arnold Krupat (Editor), Brian Swann (Editor), Random House (Available Now!)
Women of White Earth, Vance Vannote, Univ. Minnesota Press.
As We Are Now : Mixblood Essays on Race and Identity, W. S. Penn (Editor),: University California Press. (Hardcover)

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