Literature – Poetry, Non-Fiction and Children’s Literature
Denise Lajimodiere is a retired associate professor of educational leadership at North Dakota State University and an enrolled citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. A traditional jingle dress dancer, a poet (Dragonfly Dance; Thunderbird; Bitter Tears; His Feathers Were Chains), an author (Stringing Rosaries: The History, The Unforgivable, The Healing of Northern Plains Boarding School Survivors), and a birch bark biting artist, Denise is a 2010 alum of the Anderson Center artist residency program. Her first children’s picture book, Josie Dances, was published by Minnesota Historical Society Press in May of 2021.
At the Anderson Center, Denise worked on several poetry and non-fiction writing projects, including research around Native female leadership and Japanese Internment camps located on reservations during WWII. As part of the Minnesota Children’s Book Festival on September 18, Denise offered a presentation of her new book, Josie Dances, and participated in a book signing.