More than a century ago, in 1923, Nebraska writers, some nationally or internationally known, began to discuss forming a guild. Since its formation, that guild has grown to more than 200 members, some from outside the borders of Nebraska.
At their organizational meeting in Lincoln, February 18, 1925, the founders adopted their first Constitution. They wanted to promote a “spirit of fellowship of Nebraska writers” who would produce a “native literature.” They would encourage “recognition of professional writing” and support “those who possess talent for authorship.” By 1929, the Guild boasted 150 members. Today, the Nebraska Writers Guild maintains its Website at nebraskawriters.org. It hosts an annual conference and provides monthly Zoom workshops.
In the beginning, active members must have published books or achieved publication in “periodicals of recognized merit.” Today, the guild welcomes beginners, as well as experienced writers who help and support those beginners.
Below are some of the original members. That membership included novelists like Willa Cather, Marie Sandoz, and Bess Streeter Aldrich, all of whom had already written several books.
Former Nebraska Poet Laureate, John G. Neihardt, had published the three epic poems included in The Mountain Men series, and was about to release The Twilight of the Sioux.
Samuel R. McKelvie wrote non-fiction including a book entitled A Responsible Form of Government in between editing the Nebraska Farmer, serving two terms as Nebraska governor and a term as Lieutenant Governor, as well as a term in the Nebraska House of Representatives, and as a member of the Lincoln City Council.
Dr. Addison E. Sheldon covered the massacre at Wounded Knee for the Chadron Advocate and later wrote the then-definitive history, Nebraska Old and New, published by University Publishing Company. Trustbuster Guy R. Spencer drew political cartoons for the Omaha World Herald. Grace Sorenson wrote plays and stories for children. Frank Edgerton served as a reporter for the Daily Star in Lincoln.
Honored at the Guild’s first banquet at the Lincoln Hotel on April 21, 1926, Dr. A. L. Bixby’s column, the “Daily Drift, had appeared in The Lincoln Journal for 34 years. It often included rhyming verse, like the following about populist gubernatorial candidate Charles Van Wyck:
Backward, turn backward oh time, if you can
Give me a glimpse of the boyhood of Van;
Lift up this century’s burial lid.
Show me Van Wyck as he looked when a kid.
Was he a hungry cadaverous cuss
Only contented when picking a fuss?
Let it be known to the children of men—
Was he a mental monstrosity then?