The Sandhills, often written Sand Hills, is a region of mixed-grass prairie on grass-stabilized sand dunes in north-central Nebraska, covering just over one quarter of the state. The dunes were designated a National Natural Landmark in 1984.
Grace Paley, née Goodside was an American short story author, poet, teacher, and political activist.
Prairie madness or prairie fever was an affliction that affected European settlers in the Great Plains during their migration to, and settlement of, the Canadian Prairies and the Western United States in the 19th century. Settlers moving from urbanized or relatively settled areas in the East faced the risk of mental breakdown caused by the harsh living conditions and the extreme levels of isolation on the prairie. Symptoms of prairie madness included depression, withdrawal, changes in character and habit, and violence. Prairie madness sometimes resulted in the afflicted person moving back East or, in extreme cases, suicide.
Stephanie Caroline March Benton is an American actress and activist. She is known for playing Alexandra Cabot in the NBC crime drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2000–2018) and its spinoff media. She is also recognized for her activism towards abuse victims, education, and women's rights.
Mari Susette Sandoz was a Nebraska novelist, biographer, lecturer, and teacher. She became one of the West's foremost writers, and wrote extensively about pioneer life and the Plains Indians.
Robin Wasserman is an American novelist and essayist.
Glenda Hulita Elisabeth Batta, known professionally as Glennis Grace, is a Dutch singer. In 2005, she represented the Netherlands in the 50th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, and in 2018 she appeared on the 13th season of America's Got Talent and made it to the finals. Glennis Grace has received online attention due to the similarity between her voice and that of Whitney Houston.
Francine Sandra Rivers is an American author of fiction with Christian themes, including inspirational romance novels. Prior to becoming a born-again Christian in 1986, Rivers wrote historical romance novels. She is best known for her inspirational novel Redeeming Love, while another novel, The Last Sin Eater, received its own film adaptation released in 2007 by Fox Faith. A film based on Redeeming Love was released on January 21, 2022 through Pinnacle Peak Pictures and Universal Pictures.
Katherine Vaz is a Portuguese-American writer. A Briggs-Copeland Fellow in Fiction at Harvard University (2003–2009), a 2006–2007 Fellow of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and the Fall, 2012 Harman Fellow at Baruch College in New York, she is the author of the critically acclaimed novel Above the Salt, a People Magazine Book of the Week and a Top Book of November, a Top Three Pick by Good Morning, America, and a Most Anticipated Book for Fall, 2023 by Zibby’s Books and Goodreads.
Kristin Naca is a Latina and Fillipina American poet.
Tosca Lee is an American author known for her historical novels and thrillers.
Mary Alice Moore Connealy is an American author of Christian fiction who specializes in romantic comedy set in the cowboy era of the American west.
Rainbow Rowell is an American author known for young adult and adult contemporary novels. Her young adult novels Eleanor & Park (2012), Fangirl (2013), and Carry On (2015) have been subjects of critical acclaim.
Taylor Jenkins Reid is an American author best known for her novels The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Daisy Jones & the Six, One True Loves, Malibu Rising, and Carrie Soto Is Back.
Elizabeth Acevedo is an American poet and author. In September 2022, the Poetry Foundation named her the year's Young People's Poet Laureate.
Nine Perfect Strangers is a 2018 novel by Australian author Liane Moriarty. It was published on September 18, 2018 by Macmillan Australia. It is a New York Times Bestseller.
Laura Croghan Kamoie is an American historian and author. She writes historical fiction under her own name and romance under the name Laura Kaye.
Raybearer is a 2020 young adult fantasy novel by Nigerian American writer Jordan Ifueko. Ifueko's debut, it was published by Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams, on August 18, 2020.
Jennifer Lynn Barnes is an American writer of young adult novels.
Hilda Raz is an American poet, educator, and editor. Raz is the author of over 14 collections of poetry and creative nonfiction. From 1987 to 2010, Raz was the editor-in-chief of Prairie Schooner and English and women's studies professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In 2021, the University's Libraries collected her papers in its archives and special collections. Raz's awards include the 1988 Nebraska Literary Association's Heritage Association's Literary Heritage Award, 2017 Nebraska 150 Books honors for Divine Honors and Best of Prairie Schooner, the 2010 Stanley W. Lindberg Award. Poet Kwame Dawes describes Raz as "a big figure in American Poetry and in the business of American poetry. We owe her a lot as a university and a state. If we value poetry in the world, we should give her a tremendous amount of credit."
