Norita Dittberner-Jax Papers

"Norita Dittberner-Jax was born and raised in the Frogtown neighborhood of Saint Paul, the sixth of seven children. She was educated in parochial schools and graduated [in 1966] from the (then) College of St. Catherine. She started writing when her children were young, just as the Twin Cities area was becoming a center for creative writing with the emergence of the Loft. She taught English in the public schools of Saint Paul, and creative writing for the Writers-in-the-Schools Program and at the Perpich Center for the Arts. Her second marriage, to Eugene Jax, brought international travel and a great interest in art. In retirement from teaching, she returned to academic life, earning an MFA in poetry from Hamline University. Norita is one of the poetry editors for Red Bird Chapbooks." (From her World Enough and Time: New and Selected Poems, Nodin Press, 2023, page 197)

Dittberner-Jax has published seven collections of poetry. Her work has also appeared in many anthologies and periodicals, including Commonweal, the WARM Journal (from the Women's Art Registry of Minnesota), Talking Stick: A Minnesota Literary Journal, and the Water-Stone Review. She is the recipient of a Midwest Book Award in Poetry, a fellowship from the Jerome Foundation Travel and Study Program, two Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowships, and numerous other awards. As a literary alumna of St. Kate's, Norita has returned to campus as a speaker for the Conversation with Books series in 2011 and 2021. She has also served on the editorial board of SCAN: St. Catherine Alumnae News.