Past Events

Join us for hors d'oeuvres and a special performance by local actors as we mark the conclusion of the 19th International Willa Cather Seminar! Patti Meadors and F. Marvin Hannah, Jr. will read excerpts from Willa Cather's fiction and letters that echo this year's seminar theme tracking Cather's work across regions, as well as celebrate the 100th publication anniversary of The Professor's House.

This event, part of the 19th International Willa Cather Seminar, is free and open to the public.

In this talk, Masud will consider what the flatness of the prairie—or, more precisely, the imagined flatness of the prairie—makes possible for Willa Cather and her characters. She suggests that, in Cather's hands, topographical flatness makes available a phenomenon of memory - something between presque vu and deja vu - which creates a disruption of relationships between self and other.

This event, part of the 19th International Willa Cather Seminar, is free and open to the public.

The Straits of Mackinac is the meeting place of two Great Lakes: Michigan and Huron. It is also home to a seventy year-old crude oil pipeline, which over the past decade has become a key site of environmental and climate activism in the Midwest. How can humanistic methods and approaches help us reckon with the energy past and future in a time of planetary crisis?

"The end is nothing, the road is all.” – Willa Cather, 'Old Mrs. Harris'

This program will be held in-person at the Newberry in partnership with the National Willa Cather Center.

Tracy Tucker, director of collections and curation at the National Willa Cather Center, will present this program about the fascinating person on whom Willa Cather based her character of Blind d'Arnault in My Ántonia.

Free and open to the public.

The Kilbanes (Kate Kilbane and Dan Moses) are a married composing and performing team and recipients of the 2024 Jonathan Larson Grant. Their rock musical Weightless (WP Theater, A.C.T., Public Theater’s Under the Radar) was nominated for Lucille Lortel (Best Musical), Drama Desk (Best Music), and Off-Broadway Alliance (Best New Musical) awards in 2023.

Join us for an engaging panel discussion with three scholars who will discuss architectural and interior styles, powerful landscapes, and domestic scenes that all feature prominently in Cather’s writings. These important backdrops to her novels were illuminated through her gift for idyllic description and acute observation. Join Claire Schmidt, Steve Tamayo, and Nathan Tye for this popular and perennial event that further explores our annual conference theme.

Join Peter Cipkowski for a conversation with Kate Kilbane and Dan Moses of The Kilbanes, the acclaimed musical duo currently adapting Willa Cather's My Ántonia into an original stage musical. Commissioned by Theater Latté Da in Minneapolis, their adaptation reimagines Cather's masterpiece through their distinctive blend of storytelling and music. The panel will explore the Kilbanes' creative process, their decision to bring My Ántonia to the stage, and how their musical style shapes the emotional and narrative contours of the work.