Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Willa Cather... my favorite author of the moment (again)



Willa Cather has always been one of my favorite authors ever since I read her work in a modern literature class in college. She has a way of writing that is effortlessly poetic, as if every thing she describes seems instantly dignified and intriguing. But recently after I purchased a collection of works entitled "38 Short Stories by American Women Writers", which included 5 short works by Cather, I found out that we actually have something in common. Like myself, Cather moved from the South to the rural midwest. Cather was born in Back Creek, Virginia in 1873 and moved with her family to Catherton, Nebraska in 1883. The following year the family relocated to nearby Red Cloud, the same town that has been made famous by her writing. Cather won a pulitzer prize for her writing and is known for her great ability to describe the midwest as an outsider looking in. I especially appreciate her detail to landscape. Just a little something that I have found interesting to read in this stage of my life. If you have not read any of her works, I highly recommend her.