Nancy Willard (June 26, 1936 – February 19, 2017) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

writer: novelist, poet, author and occasional illustrator of

children's books A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...

. She won the 1982

Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...

for ''

A Visit to William Blake's Inn ''A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers'' is a children's picture book written by Nancy Willard and illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen, published by Harcourt Brace in 1981. The next year Willard won th ...

''.

Biography

Willard was born in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

, where she later received the B.A. and Ph.D. from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

and won five

Hopwood Award The Hopwood Awards are a major scholarship program at the University of Michigan, founded by Avery Hopwood. Under the terms of the will of Avery Hopwood, a prominent American dramatist and member of the class of 1905 of the University of Michigan, ...

s for creative writing. She also studied at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, where she received her M.A. Her first novel, '' Things Invisible to See'' (1985), is set in her home town of Ann Arbor in the 1940s. Two brothers become involved with a paralyzed young woman, and it "ends with a baseball game that anticipates the film ''

Field of Dreams ''Field of Dreams'' is a 1989 American sports fantasy drama film written and directed by Phil Alden Robinson, based on Canadian novelist W. P. Kinsella's 1982 novel '' Shoeless Joe''. The film stars Kevin Costner as a farmer who builds a ...

'' in its player lineup of baseball luminaries. Susan Fromberg Schaeffer said the novel 'has the quality of a fairy tale ... a paradigm of life as a Manichean conflict between good and evil'." Willard moved to

Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in 1964 and married Eric Lindbloom. In 1965 she became first a professor at

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

and later a lecturer, giving up her tenure to focus on writing. She retired from Vassar in 2013.

Anatole trilogy

All three volumes of Anatole stories were published by

Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Harcourt () was an American publishing firm with a long history of publishing fiction and nonfiction for adults and children. The company was last based in San Diego, California, with editorial/sales/marketing/rights offices in New York City an ...

with illustrations by

David McPhail David Alexander McPhail (11 April 1945 – 14 May 2021) was a New Zealand comedic actor and writer whose television career spanned four decades. McPhail first won fame on sketch comedy show ''A Week of It'', partly thanks to his impressions of ...

. A collected reissue will be published by

New York Review Books New York Review Books (NYRB) is the publishing division of ''The New York Review of Books''. Its imprints are New York Review Books Classics, New York Review Books Collections, The New York Review Children's Collection, New York Review Comics, N ...

’ YA imprint NYRB Kids in November 2018. * ''

Sailing to Cythera, and other Anatole Stories Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cours ...

'' (1974) * '' The Island of the Grass King: The Further Adventures of Anatole'' (1979) * '' Uncle Terrible: More Adventures of Anatole'' (1982)

''A Visit to William Blake's Inn''

''A Visit to William Blake's Inn'', illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen, was published by Harcourt Brace in 1981. The text is a collection of poems with prose introduction and epilogue, all by Willard. It features a child's overnight stay at "William Blake's Inn", inhabited by Blake and several wonderful creatures. Willard won the Newbery Medal for the work and the Provensens were one runner-up for the

Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...

. The two annual awards by professional children's librarians recognize the year's "most distinguished contribution to American children's literature" and "most distinguished American

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

for children".

Awards

The first two books of the Anatole trilogy were named to the

Lewis Carroll Shelf Award The Lewis Carroll Shelf Award was an American literary award conferred on several books annually by the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education annually from 1958 to 1979. Award-winning books were deemed to "belong on the same shelf" ...

list in 1977 and 1979. The

University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education The University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education is a school within the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Although teacher education was offered at the university's founding in 1848, the School was officially started in 1930 and today is ...

from 1958 to 1979 annually named several "all time" books that belong on the same shelf as Carroll's ''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatur ...

''. * Devins Award for Poetry, 1967 *

O. Henry Award The O. Henry Award is an annual American award given to short stories of exceptional merit. The award is named after the American short-story writer O. Henry. The ''PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories'' is an annual collection of the year's twenty best ...

, 1970 *

, 1982 *

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

, Literature Fellowship, 1976 and 1987

Selected works

Children's books

* '' Sailing to Cythera and other Anatole Stories'' (

, 1974), illustrated by

— first in the ''Anatole'' trilogy * '' The Merry History of a Christmas Pie: With a Delicious Description of a Christmas Soup'' (1974) * ''

The Snow Rabbit ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (1975) * '' All on a May Morning'' (1975) * '' The Well-Mannered Balloon'' (1976) * '' Shoes Without Leather'' (1976) * '' Simple Pictures Are Best'' (1977) * '' Strangers' Bread'' (1977) * '' The Highest Hit'' (1978) * '' The Island of the Grass King: The Further Adventures of Anatole'' ( Harcourt, 1979), ill.

— second in the ''Anatole'' trilogy * '' Papa's Panda'' (1979) * '' The Marzipan Moon'' (1981) * '' A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers'' ( Harcourt, 1981), illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen — winner of the

and runner-up for the

* '' Uncle Terrible: More Adventures of Anatole'' ( Harcourt, 1982), ill.

— third in the ''Anatole'' trilogy * '' The Nightgown of the Sullen Moon'' (1983) * '' Night Story'' (1986) * '' The Voyage of the Ludgate Hill: Travels with Robert Louis Stevenson'' (1987) * '' The Mountains of Quilt'' (1987) * ''

Firebrat The firebrat (''Thermobia domestica'') is a small hexapod (typically 1–1.5 cm), in the order Zygentoma. Habitat Firebrats prefer higher temperatures and require some humidity, and can be found in bakeries and near boilers or f ...

'' (1988) * '' East of the Sun and West of the Moon: A Play'' (1989) * '' Ballad of Biddy Early'' (1989) * '' The High Rise Glorious Skittle Skat Roarious Sky Pie Angel Food Cake'' (1990) * '' Pish, Posh Said Hieronymus Bosch'' (1991) (Illustrated by

Leo and Diane Dillon Leo Dillon (March 2, 1933 – May 26, 2012) and Diane Dillon (''née'' Sorber; born March 13, 1933) were American illustrators of children's books and adult paperback book and magazine covers. One obituary of Leo called the work of the husba ...

) * ''

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve, Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' ( ...

'' (1992) (Illustrated by

Barry Moser Barry Moser (born 1940) is an American artist and educator, known as a printmaker specializing in wood engravings, and an illustrator of numerous works of literature. He is also the owner and operator of the Pennyroyal Press, an engraving and smal ...

) * ''

The Sorcerer's Apprentice "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" (german: "Der Zauberlehrling", link=no, italic=no) is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe written in 1797. The poem is a ballad in 14 stanzas. Story The poem begins as an old magician (fantasy), sorcerer departs his ...

'' (1993) (Illustrated by

) * '' A Starlit Somersault Downhill'' (1993) * '' An Alphabet of Angels'', (1994, also illus.) * '' Gutenberg's Gift'' (1995) * '' The Good-Night Blessing Book'', (1996, also illus.) * '' Cracked Corn and Snow Ice Cream: A Family Almanac'' (1997) * '' The Magic Cornfield'', (1997, also illus.) * '' The Tortilla Cat'' (1998) * '' The Tale I Told Sasha'' (1999) * '' Shadow Story'' (1999) * '' The Moon & Riddles Diner and the Sunnyside Café'' (2001) * '' Cinderella's Dress'' (2003) * '' The Mouse, the Cat, and Grandmother's Hat'' (2003) * '' The Tale of Paradise Lost: Based on the Poem by John Milton'' (2004) * '' Sweep Dreams'' (2005), illustrated by Mary GrandPré * '' The Flying Bed'' (2007) * '' A Starlit Snowfall'' (2011) * '' The Three Mouths of Little Tom Drum'' (2015) * ''Gum'' (2017)

Poetry

* '' In His Country'' (1966) * '' Skin of Grace'' (1967) * '' A New Herball'' (1968) * '' 19 Masks for the Naked Poet'' (1971) * '' Carpenter of the Sun'' (1974) * '' Household Tales of Moon and Water'' (1987) * '' Water Walker'' (1989) * '' Poem Made of Water'' ( Brighton Press, 1992)"Books & Broadsides: Out-of-print books"
Brighton Press: Fine Press, Limited Editions, Artists' Books. Retrieved 2013-06-20. * '' "Among_Angels"_with_Jane_Yolen_(1995)_ *_''Swimming_Lessons:_New_and_Selected_Poems''_(1996) *_''When_There_Were_Trees.html" ;"title="Swimming Lessons: New and Selected Poems">"Among Angels" with Jane Yolen (1995) * ''Swimming Lessons: New and Selected Poems'' (1996) * ''When There Were Trees">Swimming Lessons: New and Selected Poems">"Among Angels" with Jane Yolen (1995) * ''Swimming Lessons: New and Selected Poems'' (1996) * ''When There Were Trees'' (

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, 1999) * ''The River That Runs Two Ways'' (

, 2000) - photographs by Eric Lindbloom * ''

Swimming Lessons Swimming lessons are the process of learning to swim. In most countries there is a definition of a number of swimming levels that are reached in the process of the curriculum. The respective certificates of swimming tests are required for furt ...

'', special edition (

, 2001) * '' In the Salt Marsh'' (2004) * '' Diana in Sight'' (

, 2009) — photographs by Eric Lindbloom with poems by Willard * '' The Sea at Truro'' (2012) * ''Waves'' (

, 2014), poems and works by three artists"Waves"
Brighton Press. Retrieved 2013-06-20. * '' Skin of Grace'', special edition

Fiction

* '' The Lively Anatomy of God: Stories'' (1968) * '' Childhood of the Magician'' (1973) * '' Things Invisible to See'' (1985) * '' Sister Water'' (1993)

Nonfiction

* "'' Testimony of the Invisible Man''" (1970) - essays * "'' Angel in the Parlor: Essays and Stories''" (1983) - essays * "'' Telling Time: Angels, Ancestors, And Stories''" (1993) - essays * "'' The Left-handed Story: Writing and the Writer's Life''" (2008) — essays

Selections

*"'' A Nancy Willard Reader''" (1991) - poetry and prose

Notes

References

External links

Willard biography
at the

Poetry Foundation The Poetry Foundation is an American literary society that seeks to promote poetry and lyricism in the wider culture. It was formed from ''Poetry'' magazine, which it continues to publish, with a 2003 gift of $200 million from philanthropist Rut ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Willard, Nancy 1936 births 2017 deaths American children's writers Newbery Medal winners Writers from Ann Arbor, Michigan Artists from Ann Arbor, Michigan University of Michigan alumni Stanford University alumni Vassar College faculty American women poets 20th-century American poets 21st-century American poets American women children's writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers Hopwood Award winners American women academics