Willa Cather audio chatcast tomorrow: Article in Nebraska paper

Mark it down--7 p.m. Central Daylight Time on Tuesday: a Meting of the Minds discussion of My Antonia, the classic Willa Cather novel. Cosponsors are the Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center in Nebraska and the Willa Cather Project at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Thanks meanwhile to the Hastings Tribune in Nebraska (for the article below), as well as to the Hastings Public Library and the Willa Cather Pioneer Memorial amd Educational Foundation.

Students and fans of Nebraska author Willa Cather will gather via the Internet Tuesday for an e-discussion of the novel “My Ántonia.”

The global “chatcast,” sponsored by the Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Cather Project, begins at 7 p.m. The discussion will feature several panelists, including doctoral students from UNL.

Residents of Webster and Adams counties are especially encouraged to log onto the chatcast. “My Antonia” is set in Red Cloud and the surrounding area.

To join in from home, all chatcast participants need is a 56K dial-up connection, a sound card and speakers or a headset. A microphone is optional since typed questions may be submitted

Necessary software for the chat downloads automatically to the computers of participants and does not include ads or spy programs, said Tom Peters, book-talk moderator for the Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center.

Peters recommends that those wanting to participate log on a few minutes early to make sure the software is working. The Web address is http://tcconference.com/lib?auditorium&nopass_field=1.

Those wanting to participate but not having the necessary computer setup may contact Pam Bohmfalk, assistant director of the Hastings Public Library, who will try to make arrangements for a hookup at the library. She may be reached at (402) 461-2346.

Copies of “My Antonia” are available from area libraries and booksellers, including the Willa Cather Bookstore in Red Cloud. UNL also has posted an annotated scholarly version of the novel online.

Tuesday’s chatcast is part of the “Meeting of the Minds” series from the Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center.

* * *

Update, 7:46 p.n.: Here are Tom Peters' Antonia reading notes done with the panel in mind. He didn't do this for formal publication. These are just notes.