Poet gives reading on campus
Award-winning poet Heid E. Erdrich came to the University of Indianapolis on Oct. 25 to read poetry from her new book, “Cell Traffic,” as well as some work from her previous collections. The reading took place in UIndy Hall A in the Schwitzer Student Center.
Erdrich has authored three books of poetry and written a play that was produced in 2010. She won the Minnesota Book Award in 2009 for her poetry collection “National Monuments.” She has received fellowships and awards from the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Loft Literary Center and the Archibald Bush Foundation.
Her most recent poetry collection, “Cell Traffic,” came out this year. The poems in Erdrich’s collections often discuss relationships between topics such as science and tradition or spirit and body. She also discusses cultural and biological relationships among different people.
Poet Heid E. Erdrich reads from her collection “Cell Traffic” during a performance in UIndy Hall A. Photo by Victoria Jenkins
“We’re related to everyone, and everything is related,” Erdrich said.
Erdrich is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwa and attended Dartmouth College and Johns Hopkins University.
“I am interested in science. I think that is because I went to Johns Hopkins and was around a lot of scientists,” Erdrich said.
Erdrich said that she writes a lot of her poetry in response to things that she reads or things that are going on in the world.
“I want people to realize that they can think back,” Erdrich said.
“Cell Traffic” came after Erdrich read an article about Maternal Fetal Cell Traffic. Maternal Fetal Cell Traffic is the transfer of cells back and forth between mother and fetus. According to Erdrich, the poems deal a lot with motion.
“The idea of traffic was what I was trying to get at,” Erdrich said.
Erdrich was invited to read at UIndy through the Kellogg Writers Series. The Kellogg Writers Series brings distinguished writers of both poetry and fiction to the UIndy campus. The writers come to campus to talk with students and read their work. The reading is free and open to the public.
“I think it is really important for students to hear from other writers,” said Assistant Professor of English Salvatore Pane.
The next writer to come to campus will be Matt Bell on Nov. 15. Bell teaches creative writing at Northern Michigan University and is the senior editor of Dzanc Books.
According to Pane, Bell writes genre fiction through a literary lens.
“The Kellogg Writers Series is a great opportunity. Everyone should go,” Pane said. “It’s great for all students, not just English students.”
