Heather Lende

Heather Lende was born and raised in New York. She earned a BA in history from Middlebury College and an MFA in creative writing from the University of Alaska, Anchorage.

Lende is the author of the memoirs Of Bears and Ballots (Algonquin Books, 2020); Find the Good (Algonquin Books, 2015); Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs (Algonquin Books, 2011); and If You Lived Here, I’d Know Your Name (Algonquin Books, 2006). 

Lende’s honors include the Alaska Governor’s Award for Distinguished Service to the Humanities, the Episcopal Bishop of Alaska’s Bishop’s Cross Award, and the Middlebury College Alumni Award.

Lende is a former contributing editor at Woman’s Day magazine and, for more than twenty years, wrote nearly four hundred obituaries for the Chilkat Valley News in Haines. She is on the faculty of the North Words Writers Symposium. The current Alaska state writer laureate, Lende lives in Haines, Alaska.