Chasing Bright Medusas is a tender biography of one of the greatest authors of the twentieth century and an elegant exploration of artistic endurance, as told by a lifelong lover of her work. The story of Willa Cather is defined by a lifetime of determination, struggle, and gradual emergence. Some writers show their full powers early, yet Cather was the opposite–she took her time and transformed herself by stages. The writer who leapt to the forefront of American letters with O Pioneers! (1913), The Song of the Lark (1915), and My Ántonia (1918) was already well into middle age. Through years of provincial journalism in Nebraska, brief spells of teaching, and editorial work on magazines, she persevered in pursuit of the ultimate goal–literary immortality. Combining intricate analysis with an empathetic, lyrical voice, Benjamin Taylor uncovers the reality of Cather’s artistic development, from modest beginnings to the triumphs of her mature years. His book is simultaneously an homage to her character, a warm consideration of her work, and a case to read Cather’s books. And though she is known for her books about life on the Great Plains, her final resting place is located in Jaffrey, NH.

Benjamin Taylor received a 2021 Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His memoir, The Hue and Cry at Our House, received the 2018 Los Angeles Times/Christopher Isherwood Prize and was named a New York Times Editors’ Choice; his Proust: The Search was named a Best Book of 2016 by The New York Times Book Review and The Observer (London); and his Naples Declared: A Walk Around the Bay was named a Best Book of 2012 in The New Yorker. He is also the author of two novels. He edited Saul Bellow: Letters, named a Best Book of 2010 in The New York Times and The Washington Post, and Bellow’s There Is Simply Too Much to Think About: Collected Nonfiction, also a New York Times Editors’ Choice. Taylor is a past fellow and current trustee of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and serves as president of the Edward F. Albee Foundation. Chasing Bright Medusas, his biography of Willa Cather, was published in November.

Ashley Olson has been a member of the National Willa Cather Center’s staff since 2008 and has served as the organization’s Executive Director since 2014. Olson administers the museum, arts center, ten historic sites, and a 612-acre native prairie that make up the largest collection of nationally designated historic sites dedicated to an American author. Olson earned a master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She lives in Red Cloud, Nebraska. For information about the Center, go to https://www.willacather.org/