Willa Cather Research Paper

Willa Cather has long been known for her extraordinary short stories, poems, books and more, specifically, she is known as a romantic realist. The term romantic realist in and of itself is relatively controversial, as the two terms are generally thought of as antonyms. In Cather’s life, this description is very appropriate, as she lived through both the realism and realist periods. The combination of hardships Cather experienced, and the transition from the romantic period to the realist period, shaped her into the realist author she is known as today.
Willa Cather, originally named Wilella Sibert Cather, was born on December 7, 1873 in Gore, Virginia, to Charles and Mary Cather. Though she was born in Virginia, her family soon moved to a small town known as Red Cloud, in Nebraska. Growing up, she studied hard and gravitated towards the sciences, hoping to eventually become a doctor. In 1895, Cather graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Originally, she planned to specialize in the sciences, but soon realized writing was a much better fit for her. One of her professors saw her talent before Cather did, and submitted one of Cather’s essay to a newspaper, where it soon got published, encouraging her to continue writing. She took many more writing classes throughout college, and when she graduated, was given a spot as an editor for a Pittsburgh magazine. She continued to dabble in journalism, and ended up publishing dozens of articles to the Nebraska State Journal. Throughout this time, she was encouraged by many to start writing more independent works, so eventually, she published her first book of poems in 1903, called April Twilight. Despite all of her hard work, many dismissed this book of poems.
Cather did not receive the recognition she had hoped for, but as Thomas Edison once said, “I have not failed, I have only found 10,000 ways that won’t work,” and Cather continued to write, knowing she would eventually be successful. She continued to write, but not necessarily always under her own name, in a letter found written to a friend, Mrs. Charles Gere, she tells Mrs. Gere she has been writing under various pen names (though it is unlikely, there may still be works written by Cather, that are not known to be written by her). Eventually, in 1912, she decided to dedicate herself completely to writing novels, rather than shorter stories and poems. Her two best known novels came relatively soon after this decision, first, in 1913, she published O Pioneers! and in 1918, she published another novel, My Ántonia, and both novels received positive notes from her readers. Both of these stories showed the “spirit and courage of the frontier she had known in her youth” and many of her other works also showed the struggle of a talent to emerge from the constricting life of the prairies and the stifling effects of small-town life.” Throughout her life, she ended up winning several awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for her novel One of Ours, she won a French literary award, Prix Femina Americain, and was a gold medalist for the National Institute of Arts and Letters.
Willa Cather is a particularly interesting author as she lived through both the romantic and the realism periods.
Cather was born towards the end of the romantic period, which influenced her earlier works, such as the earlier mentioned O
Pioneers!