Nancy Willard received the John Newbery Medal in 1982, the Empire State Award in 1996, the O. Henry Award in 1970, the Devins Memorial Award in 1967, and seven Hopwood Awards for creative writing.
POUGHKEEPSIE, NY, September 25, 2018 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present Prof. Nancy Willard with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Willard celebrates many years' experience in her professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes she has accrued in her field. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Willard was a well-recognized poet as well as a professor and lecturer of English at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York from 1965 to 2013. She was also the recipient of a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship and two National Endowment of the Arts Fellowships. She was the author of two novels, seven books of stories and essays, and 11 books of poetry as well as over forty children's books. Willard passed away at her home in Poughkeepsie on February 19, 2017 at 80 years old, and is remembered for her poems and fiction that enchanted children and adults alike with a lyrical blend of fanciful illusion and stark reality.
Her first novel, titled "Things Invisible to See," published in 1985, is set in her home town of Ann Arbor, Michigan in the 1940s. It follows the story of two brothers who become involved with a paralyzed young woman, and ends with a baseball game that anticipates the film 'Field of Dreams' in its player lineup of baseball luminaries. Noted novelist and long-time Brooklyn College professor, Susan Fromberg Schaeffer, was notably quoted in saying the novel "has the quality of a fairy tale: a paradigm of life as a Manichean conflict between good and evil."
Willard earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan in 1958. She went on to receive a Master of Arts from Stanford University in 1960, and later returned to the University of Michigan to obtain a Doctor of Philosophy in 1963. An avid fan of the work of author Lewis Carroll, Willard was a member of the Lewis Carroll Society as well as the recipient of Lewis Carroll Shelf Awards in 1977 and 1979.
Willard was also awarded numerous other awards throughout her career, including the John Newbery Medal in 1982, the Empire State Award in 1996, the O. Henry Award in 1970, the Devins Memorial Award in 1967, and seven Hopwood Awards for creative writing. In addition, she was nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award. Willard is listed in one edition of Who's Who in 20th Century America and several editions of Who's Who in America and Who's Who in the East.
In recognition of outstanding contributions to her profession and the Marquis Who's Who community, Prof. Nancy Willard has been featured on the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement website. Please visit www.ltachievers.com for more information about this honor.
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