Uncollected Early Prose of Katherine Anne Porter
292 pages, 6 x 9
Paperback
Release Date:01 Dec 1993
ISBN:9780292717695
Uncollected Early Prose of Katherine Anne Porter
University of Texas Press
This volume brings together twenty-nine pieces dating from before 1932, none of which appeared in Porter's collected works and many of which are published here for the first time. Both fiction and essays are covered. All these pieces belong to Porter's apprenticeship as a creative writer. Thus, they offer new insights into her artistic development and her relationship with Mexico, a place that, as she later said, "influenced everything I did afterward."
The temporal and geographical focus mirror the personal fascination Porter had with Mexico throughout the nineteen-twenties. Alvarez and Walsh have plied their craft with care: every piece they chose is meaningful, and the headnotes they provide sparkle with brevity and relevance. Many of the pieces here collected will provide critics with fresh arguments in the ongoing discussion of Porter's artistic development. What one finally remembers, then, is Porter's own voice: fresh, youthful, adventurous.
The edition of Porter’s Uncollected Early Prose is an important book which not only provides important clues into a beginning writer’s probing into writing and finding a voice, but also covers the feminist contexts of Porter’s art.... For those interested in the many-faceted roots of Porter’s work and her perception of the female artist, Alvarez and Walsh’s edition will become an indispensable field of sources and will shed a new light on the role of experience and memory in Katherine Anne Porter’s art.
... a major contribution to Porter scholarship.... These collected pieces, most of which have never before been available, are absolutely vital for understanding the growth of Porter's art.... essential reading for all those with an interest in the writings of Katherine Anne Porter.
Ruth M. Alvarez is an independent scholar who holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Maryland. The late Thomas F. Walsh was a professor of English at Georgetown University and author of Katherine Anne Porter and Mexico: The Illusion of Eden (UT Press).
