The Cather Archive is at work on a number of projects that will be published on the site in the near future. Below we have listed a selection of our major plans for development of the Archive:
Mapping a Writer's World: A Geographic Chronology of Willa Cather's life—forthcoming June 2008: Work has begun on the creation of a new tool to help understand Cather's life and writings: a map-based chronology of Cather's life, tracking her continual movement in North American and Europe. Funded by the Nebraska Humanities Council, this tool will visualize Cather's travels using static and animated maps, with links to photographs and texts. Once finished, readers will be able to discover where Cather was when, often down to a specific address.
Annotated Bibliography of Cather's Reading: Melissa Ryan and Sharon Hoover of Alfred University are currently at work compiling the first bibliography of Cather's reading, a resource long desired by Cather scholars interested in tracing Cather's wide-ranging literary education and its influence upon her. Their bibliography, culled from allusions in Cather's writing, lists obtained from archival resources, and Cather's correspondence, will be fully searchable and annotated, giving readers for the first time a reference that collects the knowledge about Cather's reading in one centralized place.
Other Initiatives: In the next several months, the Cather Archive has plans to publish an expanded, more detailed chronology of Cather's life; editions of Cather's student writing; and more digital editions of Cather's short stories and novels.
When material is added to the site, the main page will include an announcement about the new publications. Please check back often. If you have any questions or comments about the development of the site, please email Andrew Jewell at ajewell@unlnotes.unl.edu.