W&L’s Annual Law and Literature Weekend Seminar to Examine Louise Erdrich’s ‘The Round House’ The seminar will be hosted by Washington and Lee University School of Law and the Office of Lifelong Learning Oct. 9-10.

Office of Lifelong Learning
September 21, 2026

Washington and Lee University School of Law and the Office of Lifelong Learning will host the 2026 Law and Literature Weekend Seminar Oct. 9-10. This year’s program will focus on the 2012 novel “The Round House,” by Louise Erdrich, and feature a faculty panel discussion.

The seminar is open to the public, and registration is required. The cost of registration includes a catered reception and dinner on Oct. 9 and coffee and lunch on Oct. 10. The dinner will feature food from Indigenous cultures as well as a preparation demonstration, connecting the meal to Erdrich’s novel, set on the Ojibwe reservation in North Dakota.

Erdrich, a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota, has written close to 30 works of fiction and nonfiction and received the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her 2020 novel, “The Night Watchman.”

“The Round House” is told from the perspective of 13-year-old Joe Coutts, son of tribal judge Bazil Coutts and tribal clerk Geraldine Coutts, and grapples with issues related to jurisdiction and the tension between tribal and state law. In the aftermath of a brutal assault on his mother, Joe takes on the case himself when he feels the police have fallen short in their investigation. “The Round House” is widely considered to be among Erdrich’s most powerful novels; it won the National Book Award for fiction in 2012.

Allison Weiss, professor of practice at W&L Law, will lead this year’s seminar, guiding conversation about justice, the legal rights of children and law enforcement. Weiss, who teaches legal writing and prison litigation, will be joined by Jill Fraley, professor of law; Shannon Fyfe, associate professor of law; Alan Trammell, professor of law; and Kary Smout, associate professor of English.

As a bonus to practicing attorneys, the 2026 program will again offer two hours of Continuing Legal Education ethics credit. Contact the Office of Lifelong Learning at lifelong@wlu.edu for more information.