Cather Studies, Volume 13

Willa Cather's Pittsburgh

Cather Studies, Timothy W. Bintrim, James A. Jaap, Kimberly Vanderlaan

• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781496224613
• eBook ISBN: 9781496225153
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Literary Criticism for Women Authors
• Index: Literature

Willa Cather wrote about the places she knew, including Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, and Virginia. Often forgotten among these essential locations has been Pittsburgh. During the ten years Pittsburgh was her home (1896–1906), Cather worked as an editor, journalist, teacher, and freelance writer. She mixed with all sorts of people and formed friendships both ephemeral and lasting. She published extensively—and not just profiles and reviews but also a collection of poetry, April Twilights, and more than thirty short stories, including several collected in The Troll Garden that are now considered masterpieces: "A Death in the Desert, " "The Sculptor's Funeral, " "A Wagner Matinee, " and "Paul's Case." During extended working vacations through 1916, she finished four novels in Pittsburgh. Cather Studies, Volume 13 explores the myriad ways that these crucial years in Pittsburgh shaped Cather's writing career and the artistic, professional, and personal connections she made there. With contributions from fourteen well-known Cather scholars, this collection of essays recognizes the importance Pittsburgh played in Cather's life and work and deepens our appreciation of how her art examines and elucidates the human experience.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Series Page
• Frontispiece
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Introduction
• Prologue
• Part 1
• 1. Bicycles and Freedom in Red Cloud and Pittsburgh
• 2. Where Pagodas Rise on Every Hill
• 3. The Boxer Rebellion, Pittsburgh’s Missionary Crisis, and “The Conversion of Sum Loo”
• Part 2
• 4. Growing Pains
• 5. Big Steel and Class Consciousness in “Paul’s Case”
• 6. “The Most Exciting Attractions Are between Two Opposites That Never Meet”
• Part 3
• 7. Willa Cather as Translator
• 8. A Collegial Friendship
• 9. Grave and God-Free
• Part 4
• 10. “I’m Working, I’m Working”
• 11. Venetian Window
• 12. Cather’s Pittsburgh and the Alchemy of Social Class
• Epilogue
• Contributors
• Index
• About Timothy W. Bintrim
• About James A. Jaap
• About Kimberly Vanderlaan