A note on the title and setting of the book:

The title of the book, Gichigami (“Great Sea,” a great lake or body of water) is the Ojibwe name for Lake Superior. The novel takes place on one of its frozen islands, Madeline Island (of the Apostle Islands), and across the shore in a fictionalized mainland town near the Red Cliff Reservation.

As a reader, I have always been drawn to stories with a strong sense of place. After spending a summer living and working up on the shores of Lake Superior, I knew I wanted to write about this place. And over the course of a decade, I continued returning to it, to learn more about its history—its Indigenous history (the Ojibwe have been living here for hundreds of years), the impacts of colonization following European contact, and the legacy of Chief Buffalo, whose actions prevented the US government from forcibly removing the Ojibwe from their ancestral land in the 1850s.

While living in this area, I volunteered briefly at the Bayfield Maritime Museum and learned of the area’s maritime history, including tales of shipwrecks and local lore. I was captivated by the beauty of this place—the islands, the sea caves, the endless blue on the horizon. I loved the sense of community here and drew inspiration from many of the people I had come to know and love.

This story was born out of a love for this place—the lake is much more than a setting to this novel. That’s why I chose the title, “Gichigami.” As a non-Indigenous person, my intention in using the original name of Lake Superior is to honor the lake and its longstanding connection to the Ojibwe people.

The Juniper Prize monetary award has been donated to organizations serving the Red Cliff community.

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