Debra Magpie Earling in Conversation with Louise Erdrich

Join Birchbark Books and Native Arts along with Milkweed Editions for a wonderful conversation on May 9th between award-winning authors Debra Magpie Earling and Louise Erdrich! Debra will discuss The Lost Journals of Sacajawea, as well as Perma Red, both published by Milkweed Editions.

The Lost Journals of Sacajewea: A Novel

WINNER OF THE 2023 MONTANA BOOK AWARD

“A formally inventive, historically eye-opening novel.”—NEW YORK TIMES

Among the most memorialized women in American history, Sacajewea served as interpreter and guide for Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery. In this visionary novel, acclaimed Indigenous author Debra Magpie Earling brings this mythologized figure vividly to life, casting unsparing light on the men who brutalized her and recentering Sacajewea as the arbiter of her own history.

Written in lyrical, dreamlike prose, The Lost Journals of Sacajewea is an astonishing work of art and a powerful tale of perseverance—the Indigenous woman’s story that hasn’t been told.

Perma Red

“Boldly drawn and passionate.”—LOUISE ERDRICH

On the Flathead Indian Reservation, summer is ending, and Louise White Elk is determined to forge her own path. Raised by her Grandmother Magpie after the death of her mother, Louise and her younger sister have grown up into the harsh social and physical landscape of western Montana in the 1940s, where Native people endure boarding schools and life far from home. As she approaches adulthood, Louise hopes to create an independent life for herself and an improved future for her family—but three persistent men have other plans.

Since childhood, Louise has been pursued by Baptiste Yellow Knife, feared not only for his rough-and-tumble ways, but also for the preternatural gifts of his bloodline. Baptiste’s rival is his cousin, Charlie Kicking Woman: a man caught between worlds, torn between his duty as a tribal officer and his fascination with Louise. And then there is Harvey Stoner. The white real estate mogul can offer Louise her wildest dreams of freedom, but at what cost?

As tensions mount, Louise finds herself trying to outrun the bitter clutches of winter and the will of powerful men, facing choices that will alter her life—and end another’s—forever.

Host or Publisher Birchbark Books and Native Arts