Marcie Rendon (born 1952) is a Native American playwright, poet, author, and community arts activist based in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. She is an enrolled member of the

White Earth Band The White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, also called the White Earth Nation ( oj, Gaa-waabaabiganikaag Anishinaabeg, "People from where there is an abundance of white clay"), is a federally recognized Native American band located ...

of the

Minnesota Chippewa Tribe The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe (MCT) is the centralized governmental authority for six Chippewa (Ojibwe or Anishinaabe) bands in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The tribe was created on June 18, 1934; the organization and its governmental powers are ...

. Rendon founded Raving Native Productions theater. Along with various plays, screenplays, poems and short stories, she has written two nonfiction books for children, and three crime fiction novels. Her first novel ''Murder on the Red River'' won the 2018 Pinckley Prize for Debut Crime Fiction. Her second novel ''Girl Gone Missing'' was shortlisted for the 2020 G. P. Putnam's Sons Sue Grafton Memorial Award. Her most successful theatre work to date is "Free Frybread Telethon", a play which satirizes the American prison system and its treatment of Native Americans.

Education

Rendon graduated with a BA in

Criminal Justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the Rehabilitation (penology), rehabilitation of o ...

and a BA in Indian Studies from

Moorhead State University Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM) is a public university in Moorhead, Minnesota. The school has an enrollment of 7,534 students in 2019 and 266 full-time faculty members. MSUM is a part of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities s ...

in 1975. In 1991 she graduated with a MA in Human Development from

Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, (SMUMN) is a private Catholic university with an undergraduate residential college in Winona, Minnesota; graduate and professional programs in Winona, the Twin Cities, and Rochester; and various course deli ...

of Winona in Minneapolis.

Career

Rendon applied to the Loft Inroads program where she met Anishinabe writer Jim Northrup who became her mentor. She founded Raving Native Productions in 1996. Rendon was chosen as the first Native American woman to receive the

McKnight Foundation The McKnight Foundation, a Minnesota-based family foundation, advances a more just, creative, and abundant future where people and planet thrive. Established in 1953, the McKnight Foundation is deeply committed to advancing climate solutions in ...

's 2020 Distinguished Artist Award. In June 2019, Rendon was featured in the

Visual Collaborative Visual Collaborative is an American festival and publishing platform highlighting the intersections of people, commerce, and innovation. Acclaim for its social impact in humanities, it was featured by VOA, for advancing the cause of humanities and ...

''Polaris'' catalogue, under the Voyager series for humanities, she was interviewed alongside 25 people from around the world such as;

Seun Kuti Oluseun Anikulapo Kuti (born 11 January 1983), who is called by the name Seun Kuti, is a Nigerian musician, singer and the youngest son of the famous Afrobeat pioneer, Fela Kuti. Seun leads his father's former band Egypt 80. Biography The y ...

Berla Mundi Berlinda Addardey, popularly known as Berla Mundi, (born 1 April 1988) is a Ghanaian media personality, women's advocate and voice artist. She co-hosted the 20th VGMA with Kwami Sefa Kayi. Education Berla is an alumna of St. Theresa's School, ...

and

Aya Chebbi Aya Chebbi ( ar, آية الشابي ; born 1988), is a Tunisian diplomat, and a pan-African and feminist activist. She became the first appointed African Union Envoy on Youth in November 2018. Appointed by the chairperson of the African Union Co ...

Awards and honors

* 2018: Pinckley Prize for Debut Crime Fiction (''Murder on the Red River'') * 2002: Ohio Farm Bureau Federation Award (''Farmer's Market'') * 2002: WLA Children's Book Award (''Farmer's Market'') * 1997: Nomination for Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Sciences (''Pow Wow Summer'') * 2020:

's Distinguished Artist Award * 2020: Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Adler University

Works

Children's nonfiction

* ''Powwow Summer: A Family Celebrates the Circle of Life'' (1996, Carolrhoda Books) * ''Farmer's Market: Families Working Together'' (2001, Carolrhoda Books)

Crime fiction

* ''Murder on the Red River'' (2017, Cinco Puntos Press, republished by Soho Press in 2022) * ''Girl Gone Missing'' (2019, Cinco Puntos Press, republished by Soho Press in 2022) * Sinister Graves (October 2022, Soho Press)

Short Stories

* "Wingless" in ''Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology'' (September, 19th, 2023)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rendon, Marcie 1952 births Living people American women non-fiction writers American women novelists Native American women writers Ojibwe women writers Ojibwe writers Writers of Native American crime fiction 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers 20th-century Native American women 20th-century Native Americans 21st-century Native American women 21st-century Native American writers