Katherine Anne Porter

Katherine Anne Porter (1890-1980), American writer, generally regarded as one of the leading modern writers of short stories. Born in Indian Creek, near San Antonio, Texas, Porter was educated at private schools. In the 1920s and 1930s, she contributed articles to various newspapers while living in the United States, Europe, and Mexico. Porter's first collection of short stories, Flowering Judas (1930), was quickly acclaimed. These stories, some with Mexican settings, were praised for their psychological insight and technical excellence. Porter's other story collections include Hacienda (1934); Noon Wine (1937); Pale Horse, Pale Rider (1939); and Collected Stories (1965), which was awarded the 1966Pulitzer Prize in fiction. Porter's meticulous construction of complex situations and feelings established her as a leading stylist of her time. Many of her works portray an individual's search for understanding and freedom in an oppressive world. Porter was particularly noted for her ability to universalize individual experience. Although she did not write confessional fiction, many of her stories were based in part on her own experiences, and in several of her stories she reinvented herself as the character Miranda. Collected Essays and Occasional Writings of Katherine Anne Porter appeared in 1970. Porter's only novel, Ship of Fools (1962), depicting a voyage on an ocean liner on the eve of World War II (1939-1945), was made into a motion picture in 1965.