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

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writer: novelist, poet, author and occasional illustrator of

children's books A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

. 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''.

Biography

Willard was born in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

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

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

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 Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, where she received her M.A. Her first novel, ''

Things Invisible to See Things or The Things may refer to: Music * ''Things'' (album), by Uri Caine and Paolo Fresu, 2006 * "Things" (Bobby Darin song), 1962; covered by Ronnie Dove, 1975 * "Things", a song by Joe Walsh from '' There Goes the Neighborhood'', 1981 * "Thi ...

'' (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, and 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 ( ) is a city within the Town of Poughkeepsie, New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie is in the Hudson River Valley region, midway between the core of the New ...

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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. The college be ...

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. It was known at different stages in its history as Harcourt Brace, & Co. and Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. From 1919 to 1 ...

with illustrations by David McPhail. 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, ...

’ YA imprint NYRB Kids in November 2018. * '' Sailing to Cythera, and other Anatole Stories'' (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 ima ...

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 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" as ''Al ...

list in 1977 and 1979. The University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education 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'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

''. * Devins Award for Poetry, 1967 * O. Henry Award, 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 feder ...

, Literature Fellowship, 1976 and 1987

Selected works

Children's books

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

, 1974), illustrated by David McPhail — first in the ''Anatole'' trilogy * '' The Merry History of a Christmas Pie: With a Delicious Description of a Christmas Soup'' (1974) * '' The Snow Rabbit'' (1975) * '' All on a May Morning'' (1975) * '' The Well-Mannered Balloon'' (1976) * '' Shoes Without Leather'' (1976) * ''

Simple Pictures Are Best Simple or SIMPLE may refer to: *Simplicity, the state or quality of being simple Arts and entertainment * ''Simple'' (album), by Andy Yorke, 2008, and its title track * "Simple" (Florida Georgia Line song), 2018 * "Simple", a song by John ...

'' (1977) * '' Strangers' Bread'' (1977) * '' The Highest Hit'' (1978) * '' The Island of the Grass King: The Further Adventures of Anatole'' ( Harcourt, 1979), ill. David McPhail — 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. David McPhail — 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) * ''

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'' (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 husb ...

) * ''

Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...

'' (1992) (Illustrated by

Barry Moser Barry Moser (born 1940) is an American visual 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 a ...

) * ''

The Sorcerer's Apprentice "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" () 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 sorcerer departs his workshop, leaving his apprentice with chores to perform. Tired of ...

'' (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'' (

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, 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) * ''

'' (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 a United States 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 philanthrop ...

* * {{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