Willa Sibert Cather was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author who spent the majority of her life writing for numerous American newspapers and periodicals, as well as self-publishing her own work. Cather wrote about human feelings with uttermost emotional sensitivity, integrating it with the representation of the platonic relationship between man and his surroundings, with Henry James as one of her main inspirations. Her war classic, ‘One of Ours,’ a novel inspired by the death of her cousin, brought her international acclaim. Her businessman father and schoolteacher mother raised her in Nebraska after she was born in Virginia. She completed her formal education and graduated from the University of Nebraska in Nebraska. Her writings and fictitious stories began to appear in major periodicals such as Nebraska State Journal, The Mahogany Tree, The Hesperian, and others soon after. She became the literary editor of The Hesperian and began a weekly column in the Nebraska State Journal, which she continued for several years. She joined the McClure editorial staff and rose through the ranks to become the firm’s managing editor. Many of her pieces were first published in McClure as part of a series before being published as books.
Childhood and Adolescence
Willa Cather was born on December 7, 1873, on her maternal grandmother’s farm in Back Creek Valley, Winchester, Virginia, to Charles Fectigue Cather and Mary Virginia Boak. Willa’s mother was a schoolteacher, and the family relocated to Willow Shade shortly after she was born.
Cather’s family relocated to Nebraska when she was nine years old when her father tried his hand at farming but eventually gave up and moved to Red Cloud, where he opened a real estate and insurance office. The youngsters went to school for the first time during this time period.
Cather’s stay in Nebraska was crucial for her because she was emotionally impacted by the environment, weather, and diverse cultures of the European-American, immigrant, and Native American families that lived there.
She had six additional brothers and sisters, and it is stated that she was always closer to her brothers than to her sisters.
She graduated from high school in 1890 and relocated to Lincoln, Nebraska, where she enrolled in a Latin school to prepare for university admission.
Her teacher sent her ‘Essay on Carlyle’ to the Nebraska State Journal without her knowledge after she graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1891. Her ‘Essay on Hamlet’ was later published in the same journal.
Career of Willa Cather
Her articles continued to be published after she became the literary editor of ‘The Hesperian’ in 1892, and her story ‘Peter’ was published in The Mahogany Tree, which was her first published fiction.
She supplied her essays to the ‘Nebraska State Journal’ on a regular basis while still working as the literary editor at the Hesperian, and she also published a regular Sunday column in the journal in 1893.
She continued to be featured in the ‘Nebraska State Journal’ in 1895, as well as contributed to numerous academic journals, and graduated from the University of Nebraska in the same year.
In 1896, she had her stories published in the magazines ‘Overland Monthly’ and ‘Nebraska Literary Magazine.’ In the same year, she relocated to Pittsburg to work as the editor of the ‘Home Monthly,’ a family magazine.
She returned to Red Cloud in 1897 and continued to contribute to the ‘Nebraska State Journal’ and write for her column, ‘The Passing Show.’ She was offered a job in the ‘Pittsburgh Leader’ the following year.
Cather left the ‘Pittsburg Leader’ in 1900, and her work, primarily poetry, began to appear in major journals. She worked briefly for ‘The Library,’ and her story ‘Eric Hermannson’s Soul’ was published in ‘Cosmopolitan.’
She went on a trip abroad and wrote about it for her weekly column in the ‘Nebraska State Journal.’ In 1902, ‘New England magazine’ published her pieces ‘The Professor’s Commencement’ and ‘The Treasure of Far Island.’
In 1906, Cather traveled to New York and joined the editorial staff of the ‘McClure,’ where she spent the majority of her time working on an article about Mary Baker Eddy.
She was promoted to managing editor of ‘McClure’ in 1908, and her story, ‘On the Gulls’ Road,’ was published in the magazine. She also went to London to work for a magazine.
In 1912, Cather’s story ‘Alexander’s Bridge’ was serialized under the title ‘Alexander’s Masquerade.’ The same year, she had the same narrative published in the form of a book by Houghton Mifflin.
In 1913, Houghton Mifflin Company released another of her books, ‘O Pioneers!’ The book was initially printed in 2,000 copies. For ‘Three American Singers,’ she also interviewed Olive Fremstad.
Her story ‘My Autobiography’ was published as a series in ‘McClure’ in 1914, and it was also published as a book in the same year, at a cost of 1.75 US dollars per book. ‘The Song of Lark’ was also written by her.
Houghton Mifflin Company released ‘My Antonia’ in 1918. Initially, 3,500 copies were printed, and she signed a contract with the corporation stating that she would receive 15% of the 25,000 copies sold, but this was eventually increased to 20%.
The first 35,000 copies of ‘Youth and the Bright Medusa’ were printed in 1920. She went to Naples the following year, but only stayed for a few months before returning to the United States.
The novel ‘One of Ours’ was published by Knopf, but only 345 copies were printed in 1922. She also assisted her parents in celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in the same year.
‘Alost Lady’ was published by Knopf. Warner Brothers purchased the film rights to the novel in 1923. Irene Rich and George Fawcett played the primary roles in the film.
Cather published ‘The Professor’s House’ in the magazine ‘Collier’s’ in 1925. The same story was released as a book with Knopf, with 20,000 copies printed, and the following year, Knopf published ‘My Mortal Enemy.’
In 1927, Knopf published ‘Death Comes for the Archbishop.’ In the same year, she relocated from her Bank Street home to the Grosvenor Hotel in New York, since her home was being demolished to make room for a new subway.
In 1931, she had ‘Shadows on the Rock’ published by Knopf, and the following year, she had ‘Obscure Destinies,’ a collection of short stories, published by Knopf.
‘Lucy Gayheart’ was published by Knopf from 1935 to 1937, and ‘Not Under Forty,’ a collection of essays, was also released at the same time.
‘Sapphira and the Slave Girl’ was written by Cather in 1940 while she was on Grand Manan Island. The novel was released by Knopf the same year, with an initial print run of 50,000 copies.
Achievements & Awards
In 1923, Cather won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel “One of Ours.” The tale is set in Nebraska during World War II. The main character is depicted as having moral ambiguity and a deep sense of sorrow.
Cather was awarded a gold medal by the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1944. It is the institute’s highest honor, bestowed only on literary figures who have excelled over the years.
Personal History and Legacy
Cather had many female friends throughout her life and was frequently in their company. Historians and intellectuals continue to speculate about her sexual orientation. She spent 39 years of her life with a woman.
In 1900, she began living with Edith Lewis, an editor, and they remained together in New York until her death in 1908. For her personal estate, she nominated Edith Lewis as her literary trustee.
At the age of 73, Cather died of a brain hemorrhage in 1947. She was buried on a mountainside in New Hampshire, in a spot she chose for herself before she died.
Willa Cather’s Net Worth
Willa is one of the wealthiest novelists and one of the most well-known. Willa Cather’s net worth is estimated to be $1.5 million, according to Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider.
Trivia
She lived at 5 Bank Street for 15 years with her lover Edith Lewis, and it was here that she began writing her autobiography for the first time in 1912.
In 1917, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Nebraska.
She went to Red Cloud in 1918 and read letters to his mother written by her cousin G.P.Cather before he died at Cantigny. She turned him into the protagonist of her novel, ‘One of Ours.’
She was quite ill in 1921 and had her tonsils removed and a hemorrhage repaired. To heal, she was admitted to a sanatorium in Pennsylvania.
When she visited New York in 1924, she met Frieda and D.H. Lawrence.
She was awarded honorary degrees from Columbia University in 1928 and Yale University in 1929.
It is unknown whether she was a lesbian, although she spent the majority of her time with a number of women who influenced her life and work.
Henry James’ literary works had a big influence on Cather.