Chris La Tray

Chris La Tray is a member of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

Raised in Frenchtown in Missoula County, Montana, he is the author of three collections of poetry: Becoming Little Shell (Milkweed Editions, 2024); Descended From a Travel-worn Satchel: Haiku & Haibun (Foothills Publishing, 2021); and One-Sentence Journal: Short Poems and Essays from the World at Large (Riverfeet Press, 2018), winner of the 2018 Montana Book Award, the 2019 High Plains Book Awards’ Best First Book Award, and a finalist for the 2019 High Plains Book Awards’ Indigenous Writer Award. 

A former contributing writer for the Missoula Independent, La Tray has also published fiction and nonfiction works in numerous publications. He authors the weekly newsletter, An Irritable Métis. In 2023, he was appointed poet laureate of Montana through 2024.