Gwen Westerman (also known as Gwen Nell Westerman) is a
Dakota educator, writer and artist. She is the Director of the
Native American Literature Symposium The Native American Literature Symposium (NALS) is a Native American literature conference. It was founded in 2001. It is held at a tribal venue every spring. The NALS was first established by a group of independent scholars committed to creating a ...
.
She was appointed by
Governor Tim Walz as
Minnesota's third
Poet Laureate in September 2021.
Life and career
Westerman is an enrolled member of the
Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate and speaker of the
Dakota language. Through her mother, she is also
Cherokee and grew up in
Kansas.
She is Professor of English and Director of the Humanities Program at
Minnesota State University, Mankato.
Education
Westerman received a BA and MA in English from
Oklahoma State University. She received a PhD in English from the
University of Kansas.
Awards
* 1999 - Native American Inroads. The Loft, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Mentor:
Diane Glancy.
* 1999 - Native American Inroads. The Loft, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Mentor:
Susan Power
Susan Power (born 1961) is an American author from Chicago, Illinois. Her debut novel, '' The Grass Dancer'' (1994), received the 1995 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award for Best First Fiction.
Early life and education
Susan Power was born in Chicag ...
.
* 2004 - Fellowship. The
Smithsonian Institution,
National Museum of Natural History.
American Indian Programs
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, p ...
. Research project: Traditional Dakota beadwork, under the direction of JoAllyn Archambault, PhD.
* 2012 -
Douglas R. Moore Research Award
Douglas may refer to:
People
* Douglas (given name)
* Douglas (surname)
Animals
*Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking
* Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...
Fellow.
Minnesota State University, Mankato.
* 2012 - Presidential Teaching Scholar. Minnesota State, Mankato.
* 2013 -
Minnesota Book Award—Minnesota Category.
* 2013 - Leadership in History Award. American Association for State and Local History.
* 2014 - Hognander Minnesota History Award
* 2014 - Distinguished Faculty Scholar, Minnesota State University, Mankato.
* 2015 - Native American Artist in Residence at the
Minnesota Historical Society
The Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) is a nonprofit educational and cultural institution dedicated to preserving the history of the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was founded by the territorial legislature in 1849, almost a decade before statehoo ...
Publications
Books
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Articles and chapters
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Poetry
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Art
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References
Further reading
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External links
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"Governor Walz, Lieutenant Governor Flanagan Appoint Gwen Nell Westerman as Minnesota Poet Laureate," Gov. official website, September 9, 2021
{{DEFAULTSORT:Westerman, Gwen
Living people
American non-fiction writers
American women poets
Oklahoma State University alumni
University of Kansas alumni
Native American women artists
American women non-fiction writers
Year of birth missing (living people)
Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate people
21st-century American women