Heid E. Erdrich’s most recent work is Boundless: Abundance in Native American Art and Literature, co-edited with Lisa Crossman. Recent books include Verb Animate: Poems and Prompts from Collaborative Acts, and Little Big Bully. Heid edited the anthology New Poets of Native Nations. She is Ojibwe enrolled at Turtle Mountain. (50 words)

Heid E. Erdrich authored seven poetry collections and an Indigenous foods book. Erdrich’s 2024 book Verb Animate combines poetry and prompts for writing. She edited the anthology New Poets of Native Nations and co-edited the 2025 publication Boundless: Abundance in Native American Art and Literature. Her honors include a National Poetry Series award for Little Big Bully, awards from the Academy of American Poets, Library of Congress, Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, and McKnight Foundation. She served as inaugural Minneapolis Poet Laureate in 2024 and the Camille Gage Fellow in 2025-2026. Erdrich is Ojibwe and enrolled at Turtle Mountain. (100 words)

Heid E. Erdrich is author of seven prize-winning poetry collections, including National Poetry Series winner Little Big Bully. She grew up in Wahpeton, North Dakota and is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. Her honors include an Academy of American Poets award, two Minnesota Book Awards, the Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry from the Library of Congress, a National Artists Fellowship from the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation and awards from McKnight Foundation. Erdrich edited New Poets of Native Nations from Graywolf Press which won an American Book Award. An interdisciplinary collaborator and curator, Heid co-edited and contributed to Boundless: Abundance in Native American Art and Literature. She is an advisory board member of Rosy Simas Danse as well as Indigenous Nations Poets (IN-NA-PO). Heid served as the 2024 inaugural Minneapolis Poet Laureate. In 2025, Heid held the James Welch Distinguished Visiting position at University of Montana Missoula. In 2025-2026, Heid held the Camille Gage Fellowship. Heid works as an independent scholar and curator. Along with Minnesota Poet Laureate Gwen Nell Westerman, Heid is a series editor for Minnesota Humanities Center. Her ongoing project is PoeS.A. – Poetry Service Announcement, which promotes poetry as public art. (200 words)

Visual Arts/Interdisciplinary Bio

Heid E. Erdrich’s poems have been commissioned for the National Gallery of Art, Baltimore Museum of Art and elsewhere. Her poem films, many created in collaboration with Elizabeth Day, Jonathan Thunder, and Trevino Brings Plenty, won Best of Show and Best of Fest awards from the Southwest Indian Market and other elsewhere. Heid has collaborated with Rosy Simas Danse, Ananya Dance, Zorongo Flamenco Dance Theater, and other choreographers as well as with sculptor Christoper Lutter-Gardella. She was a featured artist in Skew Lines for SooVac Gallery in Minneapolis, 2019. Since 2005, Heid has curated dozens of art exhibits focused on Native American artists. In 2023 her exhibition Boundless– a project combining texts and images from Amherst College’s collections of Native art and literature – was on view at the Mead Museum. A second iteration of Boundless was on view at the Mead until July 2024. Erdrich co-edited the newly published Boundless: Abundance in Native American Art and Literature. She curated Once Upon a Shore for Minnesota Marine Art Museum. Erdrich’s on-going project is Poetry Service Announcement (PoeS.A.) which promotes poetry as public art. As the inaugural Minneapolis Poet Laureate and Camille Gage Fellow, she commissioned dozens of poets and artists from justice-impacted communities. She serves her community through formal and informal mentorship, poetry interventions, and in activating collaborative response between communities. She is Ojibwe, enrolled at Turtle Mountain.