Kimberly Blaeser

Kimberly Blaeser is an Anishinaabe writer, an enrolled member of the White Earth Nation who grew up on the reservation in northern Minnesota. Born in Billings, Montana, in 1955, she is a former Wisconsin poet laureate and founding director of Indigenous Nations Poets. Red Ants, published by Counterpoint, was longlisted for the 2026 National Book Award for Fiction. Her poetry collections include Ancient Light and Copper Yearning. She is Professor Emerita at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and MFA faculty at the Institute of American Indian Arts.