Minneapolis' new poet laureate shares her work and her plans for 2024

CATHY WURZER: For the first time, the city of Minneapolis has its own poet laureate. Just a few hours ago, Heid Erdrich was announced as the first person to fill the role. Heid takes the position next year. On top of being an award-winning writer of six poetry collections, she's a curator, an editor, and teacher. She is Ojibwe and an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band in North Dakota. Heid Erdrich joins us right now. Heid, congratulations.

HEID ERDRICH: Thank you. It's such a thrill and an honor.

CATHY WURZER: Wow, first Poet Laureate of Minneapolis, how did you manage to-- did you-- were you asked? I mean, what was the process like?

HEID ERDRICH: There's actually an application process that asked us to create a plan, which I think was a great idea.

CATHY WURZER: So this plan is to what, infuse poetry into the daily workings of the city of Minneapolis, to shine a light on the importance of poetry?

HEID ERDRICH: Yeah, that's what my hope is. And I've done a lot of work working in public art, and including poetry. And I'm hoping to continue working with the organizations that have helped me, shared my mission all these years, and add new organizations to the mix.

CATHY WURZER: What is it about poetry that touches your soul?

HEID ERDRICH: Wow. I think that poetry is a chance for us to work toward the language in dreams, the language in sensation, the things that are hard to say. And if you tighten it all up and make it into lines, somehow we understand one another on a number of levels.

CATHY WURZER: Wow. How did you-- by the way, you could have taken a different tack. Your sisters Louise and Lise come to mind as notable authors. I look at you as more of as a poet. Would that be right?

HEID ERDRICH: Well, yeah. I've predominantly published poetry, although I have a nonfiction book in foods. I've written plays. It's just the idea. Does the idea fit to poetry? Does it fit to prose? For me, more often, the ideas I have fit to poetry.

CATHY WURZER: Mm-hmm. By the way, what did Louise and Lise say about this big news of yours?

HEID ERDRICH: Well, I haven't told Lise yet. did let Louise know. I haven't told my mom. So there's a lot of people--

CATHY WURZER: I hope she's not listening.

[LAUGHTER]

HEID ERDRICH: And I only told Louise so she could have some books ready.

[LAUGHTER]

CATHY WURZER: Good move. I like that, Heid.

[LAUGHTER]

So some of the family does not know. I love that. What are your hopes, as the new poet laureate, for elevating poetry and poets, not only in Minneapolis but throughout the state of Minnesota?

HEID ERDRICH: Yes, well, I mean, I always start with the Indigenous. And I want people to think about the Dakota voices of this place, the songs of the people. And I really want to hear from different communities of poetry. What is poetry to them? How does poetry work in their lives? So that's what I'm hoping to do, some deep listening, and then reflecting that back toward the end of the year next year.

CATHY WURZER: I understand. And thank you, by the way. You brought a poem to read. Can you tell us what you chose?

HEID ERDRICH: Yes, I chose this poem that's the shortest of my poems. And it's called "Red Language." And I read it often. It's a poem about language recovery and love recovery, "Red Language."

If I heard the words you once used in our wild place, rough with scrub roses and sand, if your words came back gray and kind as mild winter, believe me, I would still understand, offer my own red language, my tongue to your tongue. So we recall what we once said that made us live, made us choose to live.

CATHY WURZER: Mm, I love that. What inspired that?

HEID ERDRICH: Well, it's super-short because I was just really thinking about the moment of utterance. And I was thinking about how you remember people and the things you said to one another. Sometimes just a snippet or the tone of it comes back. And to me, that was really similar to studying Anishinaabemowin, the Indigenous language of the Ojibwe people. And just, little things came back. And I wanted to write about how and wonderful that is. And I compared it to a kind winter when you don't have so much cold and ice.

CATHY WURZER: Maybe kind of like our winter right now.

HEID ERDRICH: A little bit.

CATHY WURZER: A little bit, yeah. I know you're going to publish a chapbook.

HEID ERDRICH: Yes.

CATHY WURZER: And for folks who don't know what that is, that's a shorter book of poems. Can you tell us about that?

HEID ERDRICH: Yeah, I had an idea while ago about putting the poems that I've done for choreographers, for installation in museums, and work with public artists and collaborative works, putting them all into a little book. So that's my intention. And hopefully that will still come to fruition this year through a Minnesota publisher.

CATHY WURZER: Boy, you are busy. My gosh. Say, what do you tell younger poets about what you do and why it's important for them to continue on with their art?

HEID ERDRICH: Yeah. I've worked with so many emerging poets. And I really feel like we default to what is best for us. I think about it almost as neurology. If this is how you want to express yourself, then you must go into it. It's going to be important to you. It's going to be meaningful to those around you. And some people paint. Some people dance. Some people draw. Some people talk or cook. If you start making poems, and that feels like your home, then stay in your home.

CATHY WURZER: I love how you just said making poems. Can you explain a little bit about that process when you make a poem?

HEID ERDRICH: Yeah, that's a great question. I think like 99% of my teaching is-- a poem is a made thing. It's created. It's like quilting or anything. You start with an idea. You find your pattern. You tweak it, make it tighter, make it stronger, make the design more interesting. And I think that's what happens with a poem.

I think maybe a lot of people think a poem just comes from your ideas in the moment. And that is a type of poem. But if you want to craft a poem, you want to live your life in poetry and start publishing it or sharing it-- because I believe poetry is shared as an oral performance as much as it is on the page. Then you've got to work on it a little bit. You've got to make it.

CATHY WURZER: So as poet laureate of the city of Minneapolis, will you be sharing your poems and others in performances?

HEID ERDRICH: Yes, yes. I'm really excited about that, about including other people in the work, both established poets and folks I'll meet along the way. But also, I'm excited about having my first poem ready for the city council.

CATHY WURZER: Oh, nice, the new city council?

HEID ERDRICH: Yeah, so January 8, I'll be delivering the poem.

CATHY WURZER: Oh, that's-- I'll be very curious about that, heid. I think that'll be really interesting to see what you come up with.

HEID ERDRICH: So will I. I haven't started it.

[LAUGHTER]

So I'm curious as to where it's going to go.

CATHY WURZER: Well, you have some time. It'll be OK.

HEID ERDRICH: Yeah.

CATHY WURZER: So your term runs through 2024. Gosh, you're going to be really busy.

HEID ERDRICH: Yes. I think it'll be fantastic. I get to teach two classes through The Loft, or at least two classes. And those will be like mastercraft classes on the intersections of art and poetry. And I'm hoping that they'll be in various communities so that I can kind of map the poetry of Minneapolis through some of the work I get to do over the course of the year.

CATHY WURZER: Oh, interesting that you say map the poetry of Minneapolis. I've had the chance to talk to the poet laureates of Duluth and Northfield, Minnesota in the past. And they said the exact same thing. And you have to think to yourself, OK, well, what are the poems of Northfield and Duluth and Minneapolis and St. Cloud, for that matter, any place around the state? What do you think the poems are of Minneapolis?

HEID ERDRICH: Well, I really want to think about place and help people to look at place or look for folks who talk about Minnehaha Creek or the sacred sites, the Dakota sacred sites along the river or their neighborhood or the work areas that they spend their time in, the neighborhoods. I want to get a sense of what poetry is like from all those places, based in place and expressing our lives in Minneapolis.

CATHY WURZER: So you're going to be a champion for poetry in the city of Minneapolis over the next year. Before you go--

HEID ERDRICH: That's the job.

CATHY WURZER: I think-- that's the job, yeah, which is going to be fantastic. Before you go, is there another poet whose work you've appreciated lately? I usually ask that of artists.

HEID ERDRICH: Oh, my gosh, John Lee Clark, a poet who was on the short list for the National Book Award. I happen to have been the chair of the poetry panel and encountered more of John Lee Clark's work. John Lee Clark is a deaf-blind poet and a genius with the English language. I love his book How to Communicate. And he's a Minnesotan.

CATHY WURZER: He is. And we had him on the show. And that was the most interesting interview I've done in my 30-plus years as a journalist. It was amazing, Heid. Oh, great choice, yeah. I wish you all the best. I think you're terrific. You're going to have a ball doing this. Thank you so much.

HEID ERDRICH: Thank you so much, Cathy, for celebrating with me.

CATHY WURZER: Heid Erdrich is Minneapolis's first poet laureate. Her term will begin in January, as you heard, run through 2024. I appreciate you joining us here on the program. We had a lot to talk about, that new state flag. In case you're just tuning in late, yeah, we have a new state flag. You can listen to the interview. Check out our podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Have a good day.