Katherine Anne Porter
Pre-reading
Katherine Anne Porter (May 15, 1890-September 18, 1980) was American journalist, essayist, short story writer, novelist, and political activist. She is regarded as one of the most brilliant practitioners of the art of the short story. In 1930, she published her first short story collection,Flowering Judas and Other Stories. Though a masterly collection of short stories, it met with only modest sales. An expanded edition of this collection was published in 1935 and received such critical acclaim that it alone virtually assured her place in American literature. Her novel Ship of Fools (1962) topped the New York Times Fiction Best Sellers list that year, remaining the longest on top for exactly half a year — from April to November. In 1966, she was awarded Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and National Book Award (1966) for The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter (1965). Her career was also honored with three nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Her works, particularly her short stories and essays, received great critical acclaim for her penetrating insight into the dark side of the average individuals who are impoverished by the modern environment, and her use of dark themes including guilt, betrayal, isolation, death, spiritual denial and the origin of human evil. Her style is marked by superb clarity and objectivity without sacrificing sensitivity. Her flawless pen and harsh criticism of not only her times, but of human society, made Porter a major voice in twentieth century American literature.
Apart from teaching, in the late 1940s and 1950s, Porter taught at Stanford University, the University of Michigan, Washington and Lee University, and the University of Texas, where her undisciplined, unconventional manner of teaching made her extremely popular with students. She also occasionally appeared on television in the 1950s and 1960s on programs discussing literature.
The following essay The future is now was first published in Mademoiselle in 1950, and collected in The Days Before (1952).