This event is part of the 69th Annual Willa Cather Spring Conference, and is free and open to the public both in person and online via livestream on the event page.

Panelists Kali Fajardo-Anstine, Pat Leach, Arielle Zibrak, and Kari Ronning explore the Spring Conference topic, “Pleasures and Disruptions: Reading Cather Collectively.”

Moderated by Kelsey Squire of Ohio Dominican University, one of the Spring Conference Academic Directors, this traditionally unstructured panel allows for significant exchange and inquiry into the larger questions surrounding the conference:

• How has the experience of reading Cather’s work evolved over time?
• What can the Cather community do to welcome new readers into the fold?
• Why does the pleasure of reading Cather’s work endure?

Kali Fajardo-Anstine is the nationally best-selling author of the novel Woman of Light and the widely acclaimed short story collection Sabrina and Corina, a finalist for the National Book Award and winner of an American Book Award.

Pat Leach is a former librarian and director of Lincoln City Libraries.

Arielle Zibrak is a writer, researcher, editor, and Associate Professor of English and Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Wyoming.