Events:

Friday, September 27, 1991
Students' Day

Student essay and creative writing competition (grades 7-12)

Willa Cather Speaks Betty Jean Steinshouer appearing in Omaha area school performances.
Sponsored by the Junior League of Omaha.

4:00 p.m. Bemis Gallery Talk. Cather photographer Lucia Woods.

7:00-10:00 p.m. Nebraska Literature Festival Reception--Bemis Gallery
8:00-9:00 p.m. Willa Cather Songs by John Kunz. Hilda Neihardt reciting the poetry of her father, John G. Neihardt. Accompanied on guitar by her son, Robin Neihardt.

Saturday, September 28, 1991
Concurrent sessions were held in rooms at the Milo Bail Student Center, University of Nebraska at Omaha.
For a list of activities running all day, see the end of this page.

9:00-9:45
A Lantern in Her Hand. Dialogue from the novel by Bess Streeter Aldrich. Don & Sue Hill as Will & Abby Deal. Narrator: Diann Gochenour.
Loren Eiseley's Nebraska. Panel discussion by Margaret Bohling, Paul Johnsgard and Mike Voorhies. Moderator: Jane Stilwell Smith.
Nebraska Writers: A Sample. Slide talk by Darlene Ritter. Introduction to Nebraska's famous authors.
Storytelling Workshop. Involves participants in storytelling. Mary Heise, Omaha Organization for the Purpose of Storytelling (OOPS)
Song of the Plains: The Story of Mari Sandoz. Dick Cavett interviews Sandoz's family and friends. NETV video.
Open Mike.

10:00-10:45
Contemporary Poetry in Nebraska. Panel discussion by William Kloefkorn, Hilda Raz, Don Welch. Moderator: Art Homer.
Bess Streeter Aldrich in Elmwood. Panel discussion by Dwight Clements, Don Gonzales, and Carol Miles Petersen. Moderator: Rob Clements.
Living Theatre Workshop. Betty Jean Steinshouer discusses her dramatic interpretations of Willa Cather and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.
Teaching My Antonia Workshop. Involves participants in techniques of teaching Cather's most famous work. Susan Rosowski, Willa Cather Foundation.
Willa Cather: The Writer and the Word. Hastings College national conference. Includes historical photos. NETV video.
Readings: John Janovy.

11:00-11:45
Mari Sandoz (Premiere). One woman performance by Laura Marr. Written and directed by Doug Marr.
The Art of Wright Morris. Panel discussion by Fran Kaye, Robert Knoll, and Joe Wydeven. Moderator: Barbara Allen-Langdon.
Willa Cather and Women's Art. Slide talk by Evelyn Haller portrays quilt and rug making in Cather's writing.
Loren Eiseley: A Modern Ishmael. Author Peter Heidtmann of Ohio University discusses his book, published in 1991.
Neihardt on Creative Writing. John G. Neihardt discusses the art of writing. NETV video.
Readings: William Kloefkorn, Hilda Raz.

12:00-1:00
Lunch.
Voice of the Plains: John G. Neihardt. Biography of Nebraska Poet Laureate. Interviews and the poet reading. NETV video.
Readings: Don Welch, Nancy McCleery.

1:00-1:45
Willa Cather Speaks. One-woman show created and performed by Betty Jean Steinshouer. Improvisation with audience participation.
Mari Sandoz: Then and Now. Panel discussion by Richard Neilsen, Barbara Rippey, Helen Stauffer. Moderator: Ron Hull.
Nebraska Mystery Writers: Jean Potts and Patricia McGerr. Slide talk by Betty Levitov on the lives and writings of these two writers.
Poetry Writing Workshop. Involves participants in approaches to poetry writing. Susan Aizenberg, UNO Writer's Workshop.
Plains Images: The Photography of Wright Morris. Morris discusses his unique approach to photography. NETV video.
Readings: Roy Scheele, Donna Whitewing-Vandall.

2:00-2:45
Willa Cather: Portraits of Nebraska. Panel discussion by Susanne George, Robert Harwick, Susan Rosowski. Moderator: Bruce Baker.
Playwriting in Nebraska. Panel discussion by Mimi Loring, Doug Marr, and Megan Terry. Moderator: Doug Patersen.
Malcolm X. George Garrison discusses the life and ideas of influential Omaha native Malcolm X.
Fiction Writing Workshop. Involves participants in approaches to fiction writing. Lorraine Duggin, Nebraska Writing & Storytelling Festival.
Conversations with Wright Morris. Morris discusses his 19th novel, Plains Song for Female Voices. NETV video.
Readings: Harry Eure, Marilyn Coffey.

3:00-3:45
John Neihardt's View of Women. Panel discussion by Hilda Neihardt and Willis Regier. Moderator: John McKenna.
Viability of Small Presses. Panel discussion by Harry Duncan, Dan Gleason, Bonnie O'Connell. Moderator: Denise Brady.
Tillie Olsen's Omaha Heritage. Linda Pratt discusses this prominent writer's roots in Omaha's Jewish community.
Mystery Writing Workshop. Involves participants in approaches to mystery writing. Diane Kirkle, Nebraska Writer's Guild.
A Poet's Perception. Four poems by Nebraska State Poet, Bill Kloefkorn, with visits to the Platte River and Sandoz's gravesite. NETV video.
Readings: Michael Skau, Lorraine Duggin.

4:00-4:45
1931 Visit With Black Elk. Slide talk by Hilda Neihardt, who was present during her father's interviews with the Oglala Sioux warrior and holy man.
Contemporary Fiction in Nebraska. Panel discussion by J.V. Brummels, Ken Flint, Melinda Murdock. Moderator: Diane Kirkle.
Wright Morris's Lone Tree. Slide talk by Nancy Johnson on the real and imaginary in Morris's descriptions of Central City (Lone Tree).
Nature Writing Workshop. Involves participants in approaches to nature writing. Naomi Brill, Friends of Loren Eiseley.
Past, Present, Future--Mari Sandoz. Sandoz remembers storytellers of her frontier childhood, the inspiration for her research & writing. NETV video.
Readings: Susan Strayer Deal, James Reed.

5:00-6:00
Nebraska Literature Festival Dinner Social Hour.
Author Book Signings, Bookfair and Exhibits.

6:00-7:45
Nebraska Literature Festival Dinner. Guest speaker: John Cole, Director, Center for the Book, Library of Congress. Program: William Kloefkorn, Nebraska State Poet; Willa Cather Speaks by Betty Jean Steinshouer.

8:00-9:30
Ron Hansen Fiction Reading and Moving Company Dance Performance (Strauss Performing Arts Center). Book signing following performance: Nebraska, a short story by Ron Hansen, published in a limited edition by Nebraska Book Arts Center.
Making Friends With Water, performed by UNO dancers and members of the Omaha and Winnebago tribes. Poetry by Laura Tohe; choreography by Josie Metal-Corbin; music by Roger Foltz.

“Family Activities” (free admission)

9:00-5:00

Children’s Center: Story reading and storytelling by various celebrities, writers and OOPS storytellers.

9:00-3:00

Native American Tipi. Phyllis Stone, Rosebud Sioux, shares Plains Indian heritage with tipi visitors.

9:00-1:00

Book Arts Demonstrations. Open house at Nebraska Book Arts Center, small press publisher of Ron Hansen’s short story, Nebraska.

3:00-5:00

Winter Thunder. Emmy Gifford Children’s Theater performance of Mimi Loring’s adaptation of Mari Sandoz’s novella.Story of school children and their teacher lost in a Sand Hills blizzard.

Children’s books at the Bookfair

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Festival Sponsors: Nebraska Center for the Book, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Nebraska Humanities Council, Alternative Worksite, Bemis Foundation, Junior League of Omaha, Lincoln City Libraries Foundation, Heritage Room, Nebraska Arts Council, Nebraska Department of Economic Development, Division of Travel and Tourism, UNO’s Committee on Research

Coordinator: Kira Gale