National Willa Cather Center News

The Willa Cather Foundation and Road Scholar are proud to invite you to Red Cloud, Nebraska, this summer. As a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting appreciation and understanding of the life and works of Willa Cather, we would like to offer you, as committed learners, the opportunity to enhance your travels using our educational resources and historic facilities. The Foundation offers a wide variety of educational activities and explorations designed to facilitate a better, more comprehensive understanding of Cather and her importance in America's rich cultural history.

The Red Cloud Opera House will host a day of events and a traveling exhibit on Saturday, March 3 as part of its 10^th season of events.

An exhibit on loan from Exhibits USA, a division of the Mid-America Arts Alliance, entitled, The Wartime Escape: Margret and H.A. Rey's Journey from France, will be on display in the gallery through March 10. The exhibit is about the true story of the journey that saved the storybook character Curious George.

Fragments from Willa Cather’s Lost Work Published for the First Time

At her death in 1947, famed author Willa Cather was working on a story -- or perhaps a novel -- set in medieval Avignon titled "Hard Punishments." By all surviving accounts, the writing Cather had completed was destroyed upon her death, the only known exception being a short fragment owned by the University of Virginia.

The Willa Cather Foundation is excited to promote continued reading of Cather's novels by encouraging participation in the Willa Cather 2012 Reading Challenge. To take part in the challenge, simply read all twelve of Willa Cather's novels in order of their publication, one per month, from January 2012 through December 2012.

The Reading List:

At her death in 1947, Willa Cather was working on a story -- or perhaps a novel -- set in medieval Avignon titled "Hard Punishments." By all surviving accounts, the writing Cather had completed was destroyed upon her death, the only known exception being a short fragment owned by the University of Virginia.

The Red Cloud Opera House Announces its 2011 Season of Events!

“Popular Culture” is the theme of the 2011 season of events at the Red Cloud Opera House. Many iconic personas from the 20th century will be highlighted in programs of various genres such as music, photography, theatre, movies, and humanities programs.

Willa Cather, Poet: Making Herself Born

Willa Cather loved the Holiday season and all that came along with it: delicious food, quality time spent with family and friends, and the giving and receiving of gifts. She treasured it so much that a Christmas scene was an element in many of her stories. Share the joy of this special time of year with your loved ones or friends by gifting unique Cather Christmas gift items.

It is often called "Catherland"-Webster County, Nebraska, where the quintessential American novelist Willa Cather spent her childhood and found inspiration for her stories of European immigrants on the prairie. Richard Schilling, with his watercolor paintings and ink sketches, conducts us to that land, to scenes that might have influenced Cather, but as they appear today.

The recent Preserving our Past, Pioneering our Future challenge campaign, mounted to provide additional educational and archival programs of the Willa Cather Foundation, has successfully concluded, significantly surpassing its original goal.

The challenge was offered by two anonymous donors who hoped to generate an additional $60,000 in annual support from new and additional gifts in the last five months of 2010. The initiative raised $76,316 and encouraged 201 new donors and 187 previous contributors to join the Foundation.