Louise Erdrich. Photo from Facebook

Author Louise Erdrich, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, will receive the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction.

Erdrich has written critically-acclaimed and award-winning novels, short stories, poems and other works that draw on her mixed-race background. One grandfather was a former chairman of her tribe while the other was a German immigrant.

"Of all their grandchildren, it would have surprised them most to think of me, skinny and tongue-tied, amounting to anything," Erdrich said in a press release.

Erdrich will be presented with the award during the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C., in September.

Get the Story:
Louise Erdrich Wins Library of Congress Award (The New York Times 3/17)
Louise Erdrich wins Library of Congress fiction prize (Minnesota Public Radio 3/17)