Staci Lola Drouillard, author of Seven Aunts
Memoir & Creative Nonfiction Category, sponsored by Bradshaw Celebration of Life Centers
Each week leading up to the 35th annual Minnesota Book Awards, we are featuring exclusive interviews with our finalists. You can also watch the authors in conversation with their fellow category finalists here.
Would you tell us one or two things about your finalist book that you are particularly proud of, and why?
That readers are able to find themselves within the stories of my seven aunties.
What advice would you give to an aspiring writer with an interest in your category?
Take great care to put the “stars” of your story at center stage. Hand them the mic, turn up the volume and be there to testify to the truths of your loved ones. Bear witness to the history of your family and your community, while acknowledging that truth-telling is often precarious. Finally, make sure you have the proper permissions in place. What I discovered is that even the process of asking for permission is an exercise in healing.
Tell us about a favorite book. Why did you find it moving, influential, or otherwise memorable?
Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice. It’s remarkable when the first few lines of a story resonate immediately with a reader and this book did that for me. A modern telling of a very old tale, the author writes with culturally relevant knowledge, precision and elegance. The scenes of the novel are so vivid, as to be familiar, and the dialogue between the characters puts you in the room with them. It’s a stunning example of why novels don’t necessarily have to be lengthy in order to be impactful.
Tell us something about yourself that is not widely known.
I was the drummer in an all girl punk-pop band called Interstate Judy. It was the mid 1990’s and the Minneapolis rock scene was vibrant and kickass. My sister was the lead singer and I played the back-beat to her larger-than-life Goddess persona. The band was the perfect metaphor for our familial relationship.
The Minnesota Book Awards is a celebration of writers, readers – and libraries. We’d love if you would share thoughts about the role and value of libraries.
Anytime I get a whiff of aged paper, I’m sent back in time to the Grand Marais Public Library on a rainy summer day. My mom would drop me off for the afternoon and I would sit on the floor and read books—any and all of them. It was a safe and happy place for me, and that’s why I serve on the Library Friends of Cook County Board now. It’s my chance to give back.
Staci Lola Drouillard, a descendant of the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Anishinaabe, lives and works in her hometown of Grand Marais, on the North Shore of Lake Superior. She has won the Hamlin Garland Prize in Popular History and the Northeast Minnesota Book Award for nonfiction.