Classic Authors: Willa Cather

Although Willa Cather never married nor had children, she brought Nebraska and other regions of the United States alive for her readers. A poet, a novelist, an essayist, and even a journalist . . .Willa Cather was all this and much more.

Winchester, Virginia, became Willa's birthplace on December 7, 1873. However, her family moved to Nebraska when she was young, and it was there that she grew up. The area, and her love/hate relationship with the harsh land, showed up in much of her work.

Willa attended the University of Nebraska, graduating in 1895. While studying at the university, she became a drama critic for the Lincoln Journal. Following her graduation, Willa headed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The city satisfied her longing for culture: she viewed concerts and found the intellectual stimulation she desired. She also found work as a high school teacher, telegraph editor, and drama critic for the Pittsburgh Leader. Not only did Willa's work appear in local publications, but it could also be found in national magazines, like Cosmopolitan. Willa would site Pittsburgh as the "birthplace" of her writing career.

Although she is best known for her novels, Willa Cather's first published volume was a book of poetry called Twilights (1903). Three years later, she accepted a job offer in New York: she became managing editor of McClure's magazine. She remained at the position until 1912.

Willa Cather's first collection of short stories, titled Troll Garden appeared in 1905, and a succession of other work followed. Her short story "One of Ours" earned her the Pulitzer Prize in 1922. A decade later, she was awarded the Prix Femina Americana medal for "distinguished literary accomplishment." She also received honorary degrees from the following schools: University of Michigan, University of California, Columbia, Princeton, and Yale. In 1974, almost 30 years after her death, Willa Cather became the first woman voted into the Nebraska Hall of Fame. Also in 1974, she was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Fourteen years later, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame at Seneca, New York.

Although Willa wrote a great deal, she is probably best known for her novels Death Comes for the Archbishop, O Pioneers!, and My Antonia.

Willa Cather passed away on April 24, 1947, of a cerebral hemorrhage. You can read her obituary at http://www.clgh.org/exhibit/neighborhood...

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