Willa Cather’s “My Ántonia, opens a new window” was among the 50 titles selected by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for their 2024/2025 Big Read initiative. In partnership with Arts Midwest, the NEA Big Read supports community reading programs designed around a single NEA Big Read book, intending to broaden our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book.
As part of this initiative, select OPL book clubs will read and discuss “My Ántonia” at one of their summer meetings, a traveling photo exhibit will be displayed in select branches, and a presentation will be given about the immigrant experience in rural Nebraska.
David E. Scherman’s “Willa Cather Country” Photo Exhibit
David E. Scherman was an American photojournalist and editor for Life Magazine who came to Webster County in 1950-1951 to photograph the areas made famous by Willa Cather. Scherman wrote that Cather “drew the American countryside with such clarity of detail and poetic accuracy that the camera, retracing her steps today, can still find and record the scenes as Willa Cather saw them and set them down.”
Explore the exhibit at the Willa Cather Branch from July 17-31 and the Genealogy & Local History Room from Aug. 1-14.
This exhibit was developed by the National Willa Cather Center and the Willa Cather Foundation as part of the NEA Big Read.
Willa Cather Writes the Immigrant Experience | July 26 at 2 p.m. | Willa Cather Branch
Rachel Olsen, Director of Education at the National Willa Cather Center in Red Cloud, Nebraska, will speak on the topic "Willa Cather Writes the Immigrant Experience in Rural Nebraska."
Many Americans worried that as a result of the 1862 Homestead Act, the influx of European immigrants to the United States would hurt the economy. Willa Cather grew up around many different cultures and appreciated them. This talk will examine the immigrant experience in rural Nebraska through the lens of Cather's distinct portrayals of foreign-born individuals and the varying degrees to which communities welcomed or excluded them.
Book Clubs Reading “My Ántonia”
- Willa Cather Book Club | July 22 at 6 p.m. | Willa Cather Branch
- It’s All Relative Book Club | Aug. 11 at 6 p.m. | Genealogy & Local History Room
Want More Reading Recommendations?
Celebrate the life and writings of Nebraska author Willa Cather by picking up another one of her works! Cather authored a variety of novels, short stories, poetry collections, nonfiction, speeches, journals, and letters in her lifetime that can be found in the OPL catalog.
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