Clarissa Pinkola Estés is an American poet, author, storyteller and psychoanalyst most known for her groundbreaking book, Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype. Her birth parents were mestizos, Mexicans of mixed Spanish and Indian descent, and worked as laborers near the Michigan-Indiana border. At the age of four she was adopted by immigrant Hungarians and spent the majority of her childhood surrounded by first generation Americans. The tradition of oral storytelling held a prominent place in her life and shaped her views on modern culture and technology. Estés obtained a degree in ethno-clinical psychology and worked for over 40 years as a post-trauma specialist. She often uses her writing and poetry in her expressive therapy. Estés was the first winner of the Joseph Campbell Keeper of the Lore award, and the Gradiva Award from the National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis, among others. View a complete list of works by Clarissa Pinkola Estés available at your Milwaukee Public Library here.
