The Namesake: From their pens to your ears, genius in every story

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.

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 evidence...