Anne Dilenschneider grew up in Ohio, blessed with parents who loved literature and history, language and culture. Their family camping trips introduced her to the wide skies of the West. As a result, Anne has spent her adult life living west of the Mississippi River. She currently lives in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
She works as a counselor because she believes in the healing power of stories. Daily, she encourages people to speak their truth in their own unique voices. Over the years, Anne has heard the stories of Native and First Nations women, and the stories of recent immigrants. She’s heard stories in Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Haiti. She’s listened to women from Chile, Japan, Cameroon, Uganda, Kenya, Kuwait, India, and Israel.
As a South Dakota Humanities Council Scholar, Anne shares the story of the Hiawatha Indian Insane Asylum (the linchpin of federal “Indian” policy from 1902-1933). With the other Keepers of that story, she has been involved in a related restorative justice project with 53 Native Nations since 2012.
Anne is also an award-winning poet and writer. She says of her writing: “All of it is true, and some of it is fact.” Her work has been published in a number of magazines and journals. She has won awards from the National League of American Pen Women, Universities West Press, and the Knoxville Writers’ Guild. She is listed as a poet in the Directory of American Poets and Fiction Writers. Her research on the power of stories to heal trauma was the basis for her clinical psychology dissertation, Refusing to Be Put Aside: Women and the Meaning of Betrayal.
Finally, Anne’s greatest hope is that her children and grandchildren will be curious about, and welcoming of, the stories of the people they are living with in countries across the world.
