Cather Sesquicentennial: Commemorating 150 Years
Cather Sesquicentennial: Commemorating 150 Years
The National Willa Cather Center is pleased to announce that it will commemorate acclaimed novelist Willa Cather’s 150th birthday with a host of special events. This monumental year is also the 100th anniversary of the Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours, as well as the publication centenaries for A Lost Lady and April Twilights and Other Poems.
Willa Cather’s prolific writing career and contributions to American letters will be honored in 2023 when her statue is unveiled as part of the National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol. Cather will become one of less than a dozen women represented in the collection, while sculptor Littleton Alston will be the first African American artist to be represented in the National Statuary Hall Collection.
Another significant initiative underway is the restoration of the Willa Cather Childhood Home. This National Historic Landmark was Cather’s residence between the ages of ten to sixteen. Notable for its preserved vernacular style and original wallpaper in Cather’s attic bedroom, the site will reopen to visitors in the latter half of 2023. The restoration is made possible in part by a Save America’s Treasures grant from the National Park Service, with matching funds provided by the Willa Cather Foundation’s Campaign for the Future.
Book clubs and teachers around the country are encouraged to explore discussion questions and curriculum support resources at www.willacather.org or to download the National Willa Cather Center app for virtual tours. Communities throughout the United States who would like to request a speaker or are interested in hosting a Cather event should contact the National Willa Cather Center at 402-746-2653 or info@willacather.org.
This schedule will be updated throughout the year.
- TBD — Cather Exhibit at the Grand Island Public Library
- TBD — Unveiling of the Cather Statue in the U.S. Capitol
- Feb 17 — Kearney Library, Kearney, Nebraska: 12:00 p.m. — Rachel Olsen, Director of Education & Engagement, will present "Willa on Wheels: Cather's Characters Travel from Page to Stage" on the adapted texts utilized in the writing of the play, Henrietta Solway, which was commissioned by the National Willa Cather Center and is being performed throughout Nebraska in 2023.
- Feb 24-25 — Animal Engine Theater presents Henrietta Solway, Lied Center, Lincoln, NE
- Feb 28 — University of Montana Lit 494 Capstone, Tracy Tucker, Director of Collections & Curation, to guest lecture on Authors & Archives
- March 1-3 — Animal Engine Theater presents Henrietta Solway in Red Cloud, Kearney, and McCook, NE
- April — Centenary celebration on our social media channels of April Twilights & Other Poems (1923) throughout National Poetry Month
- April 22 — Los Angeles Times Festival of Books (University of Southern California), Willa Cather Sesquicentennial Celebration presented by the Willa Cather Foundation, Poetry Stage, 5:40-6:00 p.m., with Peter Cipkowski
- May 9 — Cathedral Arts Project discusses One of Ours with Tracy Tucker, Director of Collections & Curation, 7:00 p.m., Omaha, NE (Live-streamed on YouTube)
- June 1-3 — 68th Annual Willa Cather Spring Conference, Red Cloud, NE
- June 21-23 — 18th International Cather Seminar, New York, NY
- July 6-10 — The National Willa Cather Teacher Institute, Red Cloud, NE
- July 16-28 — NEH Institute for Higher Education Faculty “Willa Cather: Place & Archive”
- July 19–Sept 9 — Cather and Material Culture, an exhibition by Betty Kort, on display at the National Willa Cather Center
- Aug 11 — Amos Fortune Forum Lecture, "Willa Cather as Creator: Breaking the Mold and Carving a Place in History," with Littleton Alston and Ashley Olson, Jaffrey, NH
- Oct 14-15 — Celebrate Willa Cather's 150th birthday at Old Time Autumn, Brownville Historical Society, Brownville, NE
- Oct 15-29 — Inaugural Willa Cather Residency in Red Cloud, NE
- Nov 9-12 — Willa Cather and the Counterculture: An Immersive Weekend in Taos, NM
- Dec 7 — Virtual Book Launch for Benjamin Taylor’s Bright Medusas: A Life of Willa Cather
Willa Cather's 150th birthday is December 7 — related events around that time are still in the planning stages.
