Denise Sweet is an

Anishinaabe The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawat ...

poet. From 2004 to 2008, she served as the Wisconsin

Poet Laureate A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch ...

Background

Sweet grew up in

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

and 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 ...

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 ...

Career

Sweet was educated at the

University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

and taught

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

, literature, and mythology at

University of Wisconsin-Green Bay A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

. She also taught a travel seminar in the

Yucatán Peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula (, also , ; es, Península de Yucatán ) is a large peninsula in southeastern Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north ...

and Guatemala where she did fieldwork among the Maya peoples.

Awards and honors

Sweet has won several awards for her poetry including the Diane Decorah Award, the Posner Award, the Woman of the Year Award from the Wisconsin Women's Council, and the

Native Writers' Circle of the Americas The Native Writers' Circle of the Americas (NWCA) is an organization of Native American writers, most notable for its literary awards, presented annually to Native American writers in three categories: ''First Book of Poetry'', ''First Book of Prose ...

First Book Award for Poetry. In 2004 she became the

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

Books by Denise Sweet

*''Palominos Near Tuba City: New & Selected Poems'', Holy Cow! Press, April, 2018 *''Songs for Discharming'', Greenfield Review Press *''Days of Obsidian, Days of Grace'', Poetry Harbor Press *''Know By Heart'', Rhiannon Press

Anthologies

*''Nitaawichige: Selected Poetry and Prose by Four Anishinaabe Writers'', Poetry Harbor *''Stories Migrating Home: Anishnaabe Prose'', Loonfeather Press *''Reinventing the Enemy's Language: Contemporary Native Women's Writing of North America'', W.W. Norton *''Returning the Gift: Poetry and Prose from the First North American Native Writers' Festival'', University of Arizona Press *''Women Brave in the Face of Danger'', Crossing Press

References

External links

Governor Doyle Appoints Denise Sweet Poet Laureate of Wisconsin
from ''The Middlewesterner''

Wisconsin Poet Laureate

Univ. Wisconsin System
Poet Denise Sweet
Video produced by

PBS Wisconsin PBS Wisconsin (formerly Wisconsin Public Television or WPT) is a state network of non-commercial educational television stations operated primarily by the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It c ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweet, Denise American women poets Ojibwe people Living people Native American poets Poets Laureate of Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire alumni University of Wisconsin–Green Bay faculty Poets from Wisconsin Year of birth missing (living people) Native American women writers American women academics 20th-century Native American women 20th-century Native Americans 21st-century Native American women 21st-century Native American writers Native American women poets