Lincoln City Libraries Hosts Willa Cather Event September 21

Published on September 11, 2024

Lincoln City Libraries (LCL) invites residents to a special event Saturday, September 21, to celebrate the legacy of Nebraska literary icon Willa Cather. The free event will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Gere Branch Library, 2400 S. 56th St.

The event will include remarks and presentations honoring Cather's contributions to literature and her connection to Lincoln from Ashley Olson, Executive Director of the National Willa Cather Center, and Cather scholar Steve Shively.

The event will also feature a dialogue with artist Littleton Alston, creator of the Willa Cather sculpture in the National Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol. Gere Branch Library will unveil a statuette of the same Cather sculpture, a gift from Glenda Pierce and Jeff Kirkpatrick.

"I'm so pleased that Gere library is celebrating Willa Cather, and that my sculpture portraying her will be on display for library patrons to enjoy," Alston said. "I cannot think of any place more fitting to feature Willa than at a public library. This is a terrific opportunity to share her literary legacy with our fellow Nebraskans."

Olson noted the significance of a Cather event hosted by a Lincoln library.

“Willa Cather's depiction of place and the human spirit has made her literature endure for more than a century. We look forward to celebrating Cather in Lincoln, a place where she honed her writing skills in the early years,” Olson said.

For more information about this event, visitlincolnlibraries.org.