Jane Smiley’s talk on Willa Cather, My Ántonia and the Life of a Writer will mark the conclusion of a year-long celebration of Cather’s 1918 novel as a title selected by the National Endowment for the Arts’ 2024-2025 Big Read program.

Jane Smiley is the author of numerous novels, including A Thousand Acres, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, and other novels, most recently Lucky. She is also the author of several works of nonfiction and books for young adults. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Smiley has also received the PEN Center USA Lifetime Achievement Award for Literature. She resides in Northern California.

This event, part of the 70th annual Willa Cather Spring Conference, is free to attend thanks to the generosity of Humanities Nebraska and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment. The talk will be broadcast live on YouTube, and a recording will be available for two weeks.