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Katherine Anne Porter

キャサリン・アン・ポーター

Katherine Anne Porter

Aliases: Callie Russell Porter
Pen Names: Katherine Anne Porter（Legally changed her name as part of divorce decree and used it thereafter）

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1890-05-15 （Indian Creek, Texas, U.S.）
Died
1980-09-18 （Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.） age 90
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Roman Catholicism Baptized in 1906
Residence History
Kyle, Texas — childhood → Various towns in Texas and Louisiana — family moves → San Antonio (attended Thomas School) → Greenwich Village, New York City — literary activity → Mexico (1920s) — work and contacts with Mexican artists → Malta, New York — residence (South Hill property) → Silver Spring, Maryland — death

Career

Occupations
journalist, essayist, short story writer, novelist, poet, political activist, teacher (visiting/in residence)
Active Years
1920-1977
Affiliations
National Institute of Arts and Letters, American Academy of Arts and Letters, Various universities (writer-in-residence at University of Chicago, University of Michigan, University of Virginia, Stanford, etc.)
Memberships
American Academy of Arts and Letters, National Institute of Arts and Letters
Influenced By
Diego Rivera and Mexican artistic/political circles (contact in the 1920s)
Nominations
Nobel Prize in Literature (nominated five times, 1964–1968)

Education

Thomas School, San Antonio
Period: 1904（約1年間在学）
Country: United States
This private Methodist school attendance in 1904 was her only formal education beyond grammar school

Awards

Emerson–Thoreau Medal
1962
Organization: Awarding body (Emerson–Thoreau Medal)
Result: 受賞
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
1966
Work: The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter
Organization: Pulitzer Prize Board
Result: 受賞
National Book Award
1966
Work: The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: 受賞
Gold Medal Award for Fiction, American Academy of Arts and Letters
1967
Organization: American Academy of Arts and Letters
Result: 受賞
Gold medal for literature (Society of Libraries of NYU)
1940
Work: Pale Horse, Pale Rider (three short novels)
Organization: Society of Libraries of New York University
Result: 受賞
United States Postal Service commemorative stamp
2006
Organization: United States Postal Service
Result: 記念切手に採用（追贈）

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Flowering Judas and Other Stories

1935 short story collection

A collection of her early short stories, including pieces set in Mexico; the edition helped establish her literary reputation.

politics and ideologynostalgiaindividual isolation

Pale Horse, Pale Rider: Three Short Novels

1939 short novels / novella trio

Contains three linked short novels dealing with World War I and the 1918 influenza pandemic; draws on Porter's own illness experience.

deathillnessimpact of war
Adaptations
  • [radio drama / television] Noon Wine / Pale Horse, Pale Rider, etc.

Ship of Fools

1962 novel

A novel based on memories of a 1931 ocean voyage; was a best-seller in 1962 and adapted into a film.

human prejudicesocial divisionmorality and fate
Adaptations
  • [film] Ship of Fools (film) / Stanley Kramer (1965)

The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter

1964 collected short stories

Complete collection of her short stories; awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.

memory and the pastSouthern settingsmoral dilemmas

Bibliography

  • Flowering Judas and Other Stories (1930/1935)
  • Pale Horse, Pale Rider: Three Short Novels (1939)
  • The Leaning Tower and Other Stories (1944)
  • The Old Order: Stories of the South (1955)
  • The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter (1964)
  • Ship of Fools (1962)
  • The Days Before (1952)
  • The Collected Essays and Occasional Writings of Katherine Anne Porter (1970)
  • The Never-Ending Wrong (1977)

Adaptations

  • Ship of Fools (film adaptation, 1965, dir. Stanley Kramer)
  • Noon Wine / Flowering Judas / Pale Horse, Pale Rider (radio and television adaptations)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
precise, economical short-fiction stylestrong psychological characterization and attention to detailcalm, sometimes ironic narrative voice
Recurring Motifs
death and illnessmemory and the pastSouthern society and traditionindividual isolation and moral dilemmas

Health

  • 1915: diagnosed with tuberculosis (misdiagnosed) — actually bronchitis
    1915–1917（療養と sanatorium 入院）
    Decided to become a writer during sanatorium stay; health issues influenced her life and work.
  • 1918 influenza (Spanish flu)
    1918
    Became gravely ill and lost hair which grew back white; experience reflected in Pale Horse, Pale Rider.
  • 1977 stroke
    1977–1980（晩年）
    Impaired cognitive/physical function; declared incompetent and a guardian was appointed.

Legacy

A major 20th-century American short-story writer; though output was limited, her short fiction received high critical acclaim. Winner of the Pulitzer and National Book Award; papers donated to the University of Maryland and a literary center honors her childhood home.

Museums

  • Katherine Anne Porter Literary Center Kyle, Texas, U.S.

Academic Societies

  • American Academy of Arts and Letters
  • National Institute of Arts and Letters

Archives

  • Papers donated to the University of Maryland (Hornbake Library / McKeldin Library)

In Popular Culture

  • Featured on a United States commemorative postage stamp in 2006
  • Ship of Fools adapted into a 1965 film

Quotes

  • "I have lost children in all the ways one can."
    Source: Personal letter / remark to a friend (biographical record)

Trivia

  • Born Callie Russell Porter.
  • After the 1918 influenza she lost hair and it regrew white.
  • Reportedly sold film rights for Ship of Fools for a large sum (reported around $500,000).
  • Nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times between 1964 and 1968.
  • Her ashes were buried at Indian Creek Cemetery