Willa Sibert Cather had Welsh ancestry but like her parents Charles and Mary was born in Virginia on 7th December 1873. Despite strong roots in the community Willa was 9 when the family moved to Nebraska to work the rich soil and avoid TB of which there were numerous outbreaks in Virginia. <p><p>The vastness and drama of the Nebraska prairie and its’ extreme weather conditions as well as the many diverse cultures of the local families proved to be a major influence on her and can be evidenced in much of her later writing. <p><p>Her first writing was for the local journal when she was at the University of Nebraska and later became the managing editor of the student newspaper. <p><p>In 1896 she obtained work for a woman’s magazine in Pittsburgh and soon after became a regular contributor to the Pittsburgh Leader and wrote poetry and short stories for the Library another local publication. <p><p>Her first collection of short stories ‘The Troll Garden’ was published in 1905 and contains several of her most famous including ‘A Wagner Matinee’ and ‘Paul's Case.’ As a writer Cather was now taking immense strides forward. <p><p>Between 1913 and 1918 Cather wrote her Prairie Trilogy: ‘O Pioneers!’ ‘The Song of the Lark’ and ‘My Ántonia’ and in 1922 the Pulitizer Prize was hers for her novel ‘One of Ours’ set during WWI. <p><p>Acknowledged as one of America's greatest writers’ further honours flowed. In 1943 she was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The following year Cather received the gold medal for fiction from the National Institute of Arts and Letters. <p><p>A determinedly private person Cather destroyed many old drafts personal papers and letters. Her will would also restrict the ability of scholars to quote from personal papers that remained.<p><p>On 24th April 1947 Willa Siebert Cather died of a cerebral haemorrhage at her Manhattan home. She was 73.
