Willa Cather 2010 Spring Conference

"Food, Drink, And Willa Cather's Writing"

Click here to register

Click here to view the 2010 Spring Conference brochure
Click here for more information on lodging

The 2010 Willa Cather Spring Conference, on "Food, Drink, and Willa Cather's Writing," June 3-5, will be a significant event for Red Cloud, home of the Willa Cather Foundation. The topic has already aroused unusual interest; it will bring visitors from all over the U.S. for a three-day event, and their lodging, meals, purchases, and interest will spur the local economy. The fresh topic encourages reading and rereading of Cather's work with food and drink issues in mind and appeals to a variety of interests in cooking, eating, agriculture, beer and wine, ethnic and regional foodways and hospitality, drawing new audiences to Cather's writing from both scholars and general public. Cather wrote about how the richly varied ethnic, immigrant, and local cultures of her Nebraska were expressed in food and drink; the conference will encourage fuller understanding of these cultures. Food and cooking also offer a way to introduce K-12 students to the world of Cather's fiction. The conference cookbook will be a resource for teachers who want to give their students a taste of Cather; it will also appeal to a wide audience of cooks, readers, scholars, and book clubs.

Collaboration between Cather scholars and local cooks is encouraged; they are working together on a Cather cookbook and conference events. Volunteers will prepare and discuss foods for sampling at Cather sites, and the local PEO and Women's Chamber will prepare a salad lunch and festive "barn dance supper."

Time for discussion is included in every conference event; participation from all attendees is encouraged. Varied events, such as kitchen tours, ice cream social, and barn dance, encourage informal discussion and interchange between visitors and local residents. We hope that this stimulating and delicious conference will introduce new attendees to the Cather Foundation and to Red Cloud, and that they will return again and again to enjoy local resources and people.

Tentative schedule subject to change.
A detailed schedule of events will be available at registration.
Meals will be on your own Thursday and Friday.

Conference Schedule

Throughout the conference:
John Blake Bergers Premier Red Cloud Exhibit
The Artwork of Area Artists

Featured works: O Pioneers! and "The Bohemian Girl"

Wednesday, June 2

7:00 p.m. “Willa Cather and the Dance” presented by Wendy Perriman author of Willa Cather and the Dance: A Most Satisfying Elegance, Auditorium (Registration is not required to attend this event.)

8:00 p.m. “Cather’s Letters to Lucy Gayheart” presented by Suzi Yost Schulz and Jay Yost, Willa Cather Foundation President, Auditorium (Registration is not required to attend this event.)

Thursday, June 3

8:00 a.m.—5:00 p.m. Registration, Bookstore, 413 North Webster Street

9:00 a.m.—5:00 p.m. Symposium: A day of papers, panels, and the conference theme, featuring a varied group of Cather scholars, Auditorium

6:30 p.m.—8:00 p.m. Old-fashioned ice cream social with special guests: gallery artists, Gallery (No registration required-Free)

8:00 p.m. Susie Thorne jazz band, Sponsored by the Nebraska Arts Council, Auditorium ($15-ticket required)

Friday, June 4

8:00 a.m.—5:00 p.m. Registration, Bookstore

9:00 a.m.—10:15 a.m. “Cather Family and Red Cloud Cookbooks” with Barbara Johnson, Ann Romines, Kari Ronning, Suzi Schulz, Auditorium

10:30 a.m.—11:00 a.m. “The Future of the Foundation” by Jay Yost, Willa Cather Foundation President, Auditorium

11:15 a.m.—12:00 p.m. Presentation of the Norma Ross Walter Scholarship, Virgil Albertini, Auditorium

1:15 p.m.—2:15 p.m. “Food, Drink, and the Willa Cather Scholarly Edition” with editors Richard Harris, Ann Moseley, John Murphy, Guy Reynolds and Ann Romines, Auditorium

2:25 p.m.—3:25 p.m. “Food and Drink in O Pioneers! and “The Bohemian Girl” with speaker Jean Griffith and panelists Sue Maher and Steven Trout, Auditorium

3:30 p.m.—5:00 p.m. Book signing and reception celebrating the publication of At Willa Cather’s Tables: The Cather Foundation Cookbook with refreshments from cookbook recipes and special guests, the recipe contributors, Gallery

7:00 p.m. NebraskaWine Tasting and David Porter on “Willa Cather and Wine,” Gallery

9:00 p.m. Nebraska beer, cider, and the music of Mike Adams, Burlington Depot

Saturday, June 5

8:00 a.m.—10:30 a.m. Kolache and coffee; Late registration, Gallery

8:30 a.m.—9:00 a.m. Church Service with The Rev. Charles Peek, Grace Episcopal Church

10:00 a.m.—11:45 a.m. The Passing Show with speaker Susan Meyer and panelists Andrew Jewell, Daryl Palmer and Phyllis Palmer, Auditorium

12:00 p.m.—1:00 p.m. Salad luncheon and introduction of the Board of Governors, Elementary School—P.E.O.

1:00 p.m.—5:00 p.m. “Kitchen and Prairie Tour”—Alternating activities (A detailed schedule will be available at registration.)

· Prairie tour of edible plants, Willa Cather Memorial Prairie

· Kolache and Cather readings at Pavelka farmstead, Pavelka Farmstead

· Special Virginia recipes and readings, Willa Cather Childhood Home

· Nut cake and readings from My Ántonia, Harling House

6:30 p.m. “Bohemian Girl” barn dance with supper featuring the Smith Family Band, Auditorium—Red Cloud Women’s Chamber of Commerce

"Food, Drink, And Willa Cather's Writing"Click here to register

Click here to view the 2010 Spring Conference brochure Click here for more information on lodging

"Food, Drink, And Willa Cather's Writing"

Click here to register

Click here to view the 2010 Spring Conference brochure
Click here for more information on lodging