Willa Catherย was born near Winchester, Virginia, in 1873. When she was ten years old, her family moved to the prairies of Nebraska, later the setting for a number of her novels. At the age of twenty-one, she graduated from the University of Nebraska, and she spent the next few years doing newspaper work and teaching high school in Pittsburgh. In 1903, her first book,ย April Twilights,ย a collection of poems, was published, and two years laterย The Troll Garden,ย a collection of stories, appeared in print. After the publication of her first novel,ย Alexanderโs Bridge,ย in 1912, Cather devoted herself full time to writing, and over the years she completed eleven more novels (includingย O Pioneers!, My รntonia, The Professorโs House,ย andย Death Comes for the Archbishop), four collections of short stories, and two volumes of essays. Cather won the Pulitzer Prize forย One of Oursin 1923. She died in 1947.