December 7, 1873 – April 24, 1947
I am a big fan of Willa Cather and can nerd-out about her until the cows come home. This page is a round up of some of the Willa Cather reading projects I’ve hosted.
Willa Cather Novel Reading Challenge — I created this reading project for myself in 2012 and invited others to read with me. Cather published 12 novels and reading one per month is a great way to experience her themes and styles.
Willa Cather Short Story Project — In 2019 I created a schedule to read all of Cather’s short stories. I am not naturally drawn to short fiction but committing to reading one story a month seemed doable. It took over five years! Other readers to joined me here and there.
Willa Cather Book Club — I currently host a Willa Cather Book Club that meets quarterly in South Windsor, CT. Check it out here. The pandemic has altered our reading schedule. We have one more Cather novel to read and then we’ll be choosing a different classic American author to focus on for a year.
I’ve enjoyed hosting these Willa Cather reading projects. In the future I might create one around her nonfiction writing or literary scholarship about her work.
More Cather
I made this video for my friend Shawn’s YouTube channel — Shawn Breathes Books, about how I got into Cather and a brief intro to her novels.
If you’d like to learn more about Cather, a great place to start is at The National Willa Cather Center in Red Cloud, Nebraska.
To dig deeper into Cather’s work and biography, visit The Willa Cather Archive. Here you can access Cather’s writing (including her letters), writing about her, a timeline of her life, photographs, and so much more.
To help preserve and enhance resources for the appreciation and study of Willa Cather’s life and writing, become a member of the Willa Cather Foundation.