Newsletter of the

Society

A Salute to Katherine Anne Porter at the University of Maryland

A program celebrating the University of Maryland Libraries' Special Collections holdings relating to Katherine Anne Porter took place on Sunday, March 13, in Hornbake Library. The Maryland Room, the Special Collections reading room, was transformed into a performance space, featuring a stage and professional lighting and sound, for a staged reading of Porter's very short story "Magic" by noted actress Jewell Robinson. Ms. Robinson has worked on stages as far away as Misawa, Japan, and on most of the professional stages in the Washington area. Concurrently with the reading, she was appearing in the African Theatre Continuum's production of From the Mississippi Delta at the H Street Playhouse. She is the recipient of many awards including the Mary Goldwater Award from the Theatre Lobby Foundation, a Helen Hayes Award for Best Supporting Actor, and an Audelco Award in New York. She is also the Public Program Director for the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, where she creates, produces, and occasionally performs in theatrical pieces about sitters in the Portrait Gallery's collection.

Following Ms. Robinson's riveting performance, Porter scholars, Janis Stout, Darlene Unrue, and Alexandra Subramanian, joined Ms. Robinson, and Curator of Literary Manuscripts, Beth Alvarez, on the stage for a discussion of the story moderated by Professor Jackson Bryer of the University of Maryland English Department. Each of the scholars offered a brief interpretation of the story after which Professor Bryer led a discussion among those on the stage. Members of the audience also posed questions at this time.

Professor Stout, who recently retired from Texas A & M University, where she was Professor of English and Dean of Faculties/Associate Provost, has published numerous scholarly articles, seven scholarly monographs, and three novels. Her work on Katherine Anne Porter includes Strategies of Reticence: Silence and Meaning in the Works of Jane Austen, Willa Cather, Katherine Anne Porter, and Joan Didion (1990) and the intellectual biography, Katherine Anne Porter: A Sense of the Times (1995), both of which were published by the University Press of Virginia. Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Professor Unrue has published widely on American and British literature, most notably on Katherine Anne Porter. Her books include Truth and Vision in Katherine Anne Porter's Fiction (University of Georgia Press, 1985), Understanding Katherine Anne Porter (University of South Carolina Press, 1988), "This Strange Old World" and Other Book Reviews (University of Georgia Press, 1991), Katherine Anne Porter's Poetry (University of South Carolina Press, 1996), and Critical Essays on Katherine Anne Porter (G. K. Hall, 1997). Forthcoming is an edited volume of Porter's works for the Library of America as well as a full-scale biography. Dr. Subramanian has taught at the Community College of Philadelphia, Bucks County Community College, and Delaware Valley College. Her 2001 dissertation, "Katherine Anne Porter and her Publishers," focused on Porter's twenty-five-year publishing alliance with Harcourt, Brace (1930-1955) and her subsequent association with Atlantic-Little, Brown (1955-1964). It also discusses the significance of Porter's friendship and literary alliance with Cyrilly Abels, who served as Porter's literary agent from 1962 until Abels's death in 1975.

Following the formal portion of the program, the program participants and audience moved into the lobby for a dessert reception. During the reception, singers and instrumentalists from the University's Collegium Musicum performed a program of French Renaissance music in the Katherine Anne Porter Room. The program included pieces by composers that were particular favorites of Katherine Anne Porter. Personnel of the group are drawn from students, faculty, and staff across the university. The April 13 performance featured recorders and crumhorns, and the singers included directors Philip Silvey and Tom Zajac.

The success of this final event of the Hornbake Showcase, celebrating the Libraries' Special Collections, would not have been possible without the effort of many Libraries' staff and students. These included Haelim Allen, Roy Alvarez, Lauren Brown, Jennifer Evans, Ann Hudak, Jennie Levine, Christie Lutz, Liz McAllister, Doug McElrath, Craig Mason, Allan Rough, Jason Stieber, and Anne Turkos. Also of invaluable assistance were Libraries' Development staff members, Michelle Wellens, Lori Hill, and Barbara Harr.