From the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and author of O Pioneers! (1913) comes this collection of poetry, published between 1892 and 1933. Willa Cather experiments in style and theme, with many of her poems drawing from her own experiences. Willa Cather is known for her remarkable fiction, most notably her Great Plains trilogy and One of Ours (1922), a World War I novel for which she received the Pulitzer Prize in 1923. This collection of her poetry highlights Cather's unrivalled attention to the small sensory details of everyday life. Utilising traditional Romantic language and often using abstract imagery, Cather's poetry can be compared to the work of writers who championed the previous century. She explores different forms and styles, experimenting with sonnets, iambic pentameter, and ABAB rhyme schemes. Despite never quite finding her own distinctive voice, Cather's poetry includes many beautiful passages. The 'father' of American literature and author of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), Mark Twain, praised Cather for her poem 'The Palatine', which is featured in this volume. This collection is divided into three - Uncollected poems from 1892 to 1900 - April Twilights (1903) - April Twilights and Other Poems (Poems added in 1923 and 1933) With its name taken from the famous line in Cather's autobiographical poem 'Macon Prairie' (1923), Under Far Horizons - Selected Poetry of Willa Cather has been proudly published by specialist poetry imprint Ragged Hand. The volume features an introductory excerpt by H. L. Mencken and would make the perfect gift for collectors of Cather's work and those who enjoyed her marvellous novel O Pioneers! (1913).
Wilella Sibert Cather was born in Back Creek Valley (Gore), Virginia, in December 7, 1873.
She grew up in Virginia and Nebraska. She then attended the University of Nebraska, initially planning to become a physician, but after writing an article for the Nebraska State Journal, she became a regular contributor to this journal. Because of this, she changed her major and graduated with a bachelor's degree in English.
After graduation in 1894, she worked in Pittsburgh as writer for various publications and as a school teacher for approximately 13 years, thereafter moving to New York City for the remainder of her life.
Her novels on frontier life brought her to national recognition. In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her novel, 'One of Ours' (1922), set during World War I. She travelled widely and often spent summers in New Brunswick, Canada. In later life, she experienced much negative criticism for her conservative politics and became reclusive, burning some of her letters and personal papers, including her last manuscript.
She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1943. In 1944, Cather received the gold medal for fiction from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, an award given once a decade for an author's total accomplishments.
She died of a cerebral haemorrhage at the age of 73 in New York City.