Past Events

Virtual Author Series: Jonis Agee

Opera House:

Mark your calendars for this discussion with Jonis Agee about her book, The Bones of Paradise. This multigenerational family saga takes place shortly after the Wounded Knee Massacre, in the Nebraska Sandhills. Selected as One Book One Nebraska for 2022, the novel highlights the difficulties of settling a harsh environment while navigating the unpredictable people within it.


Blixt Original Children's Theatre and Art Auction

Opera House:

Join us for an evening celebration of local children's creativity that's got it all! We will begin with a very special theater performance in collaboration with Blixt Locally Grown and the Valley Child Development Center. Children are spending this week working with theater artists from Blixt.


Expanding Perceptions

Art Gallery:
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Christopher Strickland's abstract watercolor expressions are visual chronicles that document the effects of spiritual awakening and personal transformation.

Nebraska Chamber Players with Brian Leeper present Christian Ellenwood's Children of the Moon

Opera House:
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Composer Chris Ellenwood’s new composition, Children of the Moon, is based on Willa Cather’s One of Ours which celebrates its 100th publication anniversary in 2022. Featuring Nebraska’s own Brian Leeper as vocalist, Nebraska Chamber Players will perform Children of the Moon on Saturday, June 4, in the Red Cloud Opera House. Tickets may be purchased as a single event, or added to your Spring Conference registration.


The Passing Show

Spring Conference:
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Join us for a lively annual panel discussion around Spring Conference themes: in Red Cloud or virtually!

Maureen Corrigan - "All the Glittering Prizes"

Spring Conference:
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NPR book critic Maureen Corrigan joins us in the Red Cloud Opera House for an invited lecture that considers the backstage deliberations and decisions behind literary awards, informed by her time as a juror for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.


Dr. James English: "The Literary Award as Judgment Device"

Spring Conference:
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Presented from the Red Cloud Opera House, and also available here digitally, below.

Dr. James English will join us in Red Cloud for an invited lecture on our conference theme of literary prizes. Dr. English is the author of The Economy of Prestige (Harvard UP), a study of the history, functions, and effects of prizes in literature and the arts. The book was named Best Academic Book of 2005 by New York Magazine. His current book project is Beauty by the Numbers, a history of rating and ranking systems in literature and the arts.


67th Annual Willa Cather Spring Conference

Spring Conference:
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Our annual Spring Conference will explore the landscape of literary prizes as we mark the publication centenary of Willa Cather’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel One of Ours.