Newsletter of the

Society

Katherine Anne Porter Society Activities at the 2002 American Literature Association Conference in Long Beach, California

Beth Alvarez of the University of Maryland chaired the Katherine Anne Porter Society's session, "Katherine Anne Porter's Non-Fiction," held at the American Literature Association Conference in Long Beach, California, on Thursday, May 30, 2002. The session began with "Katherine Anne Porter's Cotton Mather: A Failure of Convergences" read by Professor Jeanette McVicker, State University of New York--Fredonia. Jerry Lee Findley of Austin Peay State University presented "The Never-Ending Wrong: A Historic Moment of 'millennial change.'" "'The Other Half of a Double Life': Katherine Anne Porter's Non-fiction Writing and Publishing Obligations" was the subject of the paper of Alexandra Subramanian, an independent scholar from Perkasie, Pennsylvania. Carl Griffin of Georgia Perimeter College/Dunwoody Campus served as the respondent to the papers.

The society's business meeting also took place on May 30. President Beth Alvarez reported that the balance in the Society's account in the UNLV Foundation in 2001 was $1,244.46. In fiscal year 2001-2002, the society had no expenses and had revenue of $435.00. The balance in the society's account in May 2002 was $1,699.46. The English Department at UNLV underwrites all mailing costs, and the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts funds the costs of printing the newsletter. The University of Maryland Libraries provides institutional support for the president/newsletter editor as well as hosting the society's Web site.

Alvarez reported that, although the society's revised by-laws were passed by a vote of the members, elections have yet to be held. The by-laws call for the election of president; the executive committee must conduct nominations. The active members of the executive committee are Darlene Unrue, Janis Stout, Thomas Austenfeld, Christine Hait, and Beth Alvarez. Other duties of the executive committee include chairing sessions at scholarly conferences and handling the society's routine business. Members were urged to submit articles, news items, and announcements for the newsletter. Future meetings of the Society will be held at forthcoming American Literature Association conferences. Darlene Unrue will chair the session to be held in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in May 2003. The title of the session will be "Parallels and Influence: Katherine Anne Porter and Other Writers," and those present were urged to submit paper proposals for the session. A chair for the May 2004 session in San Francisco, California, had not yet been determined.

The inaugural award of the Katherine Anne Porter Prize for Fiction to Lynn Freed at the American Academy of Arts and Letters on May 15, 2002, was discussed as well as forthcoming Porter events: a performance of Lynn Martin and Laura Furman's Passenger on the Ship of Fools at the Yaddo Summer Benefit at Yaddo in June 2002 and the salute to Porter to be held at the University of Maryland Libraries in April or May 2003.