The annual Spring Willa Cather Conference has been held in Red Cloud, Nebraska for over sixty years. Rather than cancel the conference due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this year’s 65th Willa Cather Spring Conference will be held virtually.
Conference organizers no doubt hustled to find an appropriate platform to deliver the conference and then transitioned the panels, presentations, and other programming to work as online content.
The dates of the conference are June 4-6, 2020. The price for this three day conference is only $100. First time attendees or students can use a special code at registration to receive 50% off, so that makes it only $50. The code is: 50Catherconf.
The spring conference focuses on a particular Cather work or theme. This year’s focus is on the 1920s and Cather’s short story collection, Youth and the Bright Medusa. This is especially exciting for those who’ve been participating in the Willa Cather Short Story Challenge.
To learn more about the conference and to register visit: https://www.willacather.org/events/un/tethered-cather-cusp-1920s
The conference is running on an app called Whova, which seems pretty cool. It has a straightforward interface that clearly lists the conference schedule or you can create your own agenda. You can see and connect with other attendees, take notes, write comments, etc. Here’s a link to a user‘s guide so you can see what it looks like.
I’m already registered and hope to “see” you there!
When I first saw the image used for the conference, I immediately thought of the short story Coming, Aphrodite! That’s so cool that this year’s conference focuses on the 1920s and the themes in Youth and the Bright Medusa! I’m going to review the schedule, and I hope I can attend some of the presentations.
Isn’t it a neat image? I hope the schedule works out for you. 🤞