Born and raised in the Upper Peninsula, Ronald Riekki is an award-winning short story writer, novelist, poet, playwright, and screenwriter. In his many publications, he depicts a world of his Sami-Finnish-Karelian heritage and a new vision of Sami America.

Tim Frandy, part of the Sámi American community (to be confirmed) will lead a conversation with Ron Riekki. Tim is a public folklorist and an Assistant Professor of Nordic Studies at the University of British Columbia, whose work centers on Indigenous communities, decolonization, education, and environments.

Presenter Bio: Ron Riekki’s books include “U.P”: a novel nominated by National Book Award winner John Casey for the Sewanee Writers’ Series. “Post-traumatic: A Memoir,” “My Ancestors are Reindeer Herders,” as well as “I Am Melting in Extinction,” and “ Blood Not Blood Then the Gates.” Riekki co-edited “Undocumented: Great Lakes Poets Laureate on Social Justice,” “The Many Lives of The Evil Dead: Essays on the Cult Film Franchise,” and “The Many Lives of the Twilight Zone: Essays on the Television and Film Franchise;” He has edited “And Here: 100 Years of Upper Peninsula Writing, 1917-2017,” and “Here: Women Writing on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.” (awarded an Independent Publisher Book Award), and “The Way North: Collected Upper Peninsula New Works,” awarded a Michigan Notable Book from the Library of Michigan. His plays have been performed in Massachusetts, Michigan, Texas, Virginia, Illinois, and New York, and he was selected as a Tennessee Williams Scholar where he studied with Arlene Hutton and Pulitzer Prize-winner Lee Blessing.