Episode 45: Ron Riekki

Ron Riekki and I had a great conversation about his work, his life, and our common experiences.  He is a Saami, Karelian, Finn, and Greek writer with many writing credits. He's studied with Anne Beattie, John Casey, Jayne Anne Phillips, Anselm Hollo, and Stuart Dybek, to name a few! He also hung out with actor Sean Penn! Do give a listen and learn about this fascinating writer!

http://yourartsygirlpodcast.com/episodes

https://rariekki.webs.com/

You can order "Posttraumatic" here: https://www.spdbooks.org/Products/9781732336162/posttraumatic-a-memoir.aspx

You can order "My Ancestors Are Reindeer Hers and I am Melting in Extinction" here: https://www.amazon.com/Ancestors-Reindeer-Herders-Melting-Extinction/dp/1627202102

"In My Ancestors are Reindeer Herders and I am Melting in Extinction, Ron Riekki presents a collection of non-fiction, short stories, and poetry about the Karelian- and Saami-American experience. In true nomadic fashion, his writing takes the reader to Kuusamo, Utah, Berkeley, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Lake Mohave, Yosemite, Karelia, and a hazmat facility where all the animals on site have been forgotten.

A mix of Anselm Hollo, Gregory Orr, Eric Torgersen, and Nils-Aslak Valkeapää, Riekki’s writing forces the Saami-American voice to be heard, a voice that some might not even realize exists. It does. Furiously."

You can order "Undocumented: Great Lakes Poets Laureate on Social Justice" here:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1611863082/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

You can order "The Many Lives of the Evil Dead" here: https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/the-many-lives-of-the-evil-dead/

Bio:  Ron Riekki is a poet and award-winning screenwriter. He is the author of My Ancestors are Reindeer Herders and I Am Melting In Extinction: Saami-American Non-Fiction, Fiction, and Poetry, U.P.: A Novel, and Posttraumatic: A Memoir. He edited five anthologies: The Way North (Michigan Notable Book), And Here: 100 Years of Upper Peninsula Writing, 1917–2017, Here: Women Writing on Michigan's Upper Peninsula (Independent Publisher Book Award), Undocumented: Great Lakes Poets Laureate on Social Justice, and The Many Lives of The Evil Dead: Essays on the Cult Film Franchise. He's published his writing in The Threepenny Review, Bellevue Literary Review, Wigleaf, Spillway, Poetry Northwest, and many other literary journals. Riekki is Saami-American, Karelian-American, and Finnish-American. If he ever got a tattoo, it'd say Sisu. His home is the north. The far north. No, farther than that.