Louise Erdrich is set to release her first short story collection in 17 years.
Harper will publish the acclaimed author’s Python’s Kiss next spring, the press announced in a news release. It will be her first since The Red Convertible: Selected and New Stories, 1978-2008.
Erdrich made her literary debut in 1984 with the novel Love Medicine, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. The book was the first in an eight-book series, the most recent of which, The Painted Drum, was published in 2005.
Her other novels include The Round House, which won the National Book Award, and The Night Watchman, which won the Pulitzer Prize. Her most recent novel, The Mighty Red, was published last October. She is also the author of several children’s books, including Grandmother’s Pigeon, illustrated by Jim LaMarche, and The Range Eternal, illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher.
The stories in Python’s Kiss, Harper says, “offer an opportunity to celebrate the wisdom and brilliant, wide-ranging imagination of one of America’s most important writers.” The stories will be accompanied by art by her daughter, Aza Erdrich Abe, who has previously designed the art for several of her mother’s books.
Python’s Kiss is scheduled for publication on March 24, 2026.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
