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Independent scholar Alexandra Subramanian chaired the Katherine Anne Porter Society's session, "International Influences on Katherine Anne Porter's Life and Writing," held at the American Literature Association Conference in San Francisco, on Thursday, May 27, 2004. The session began with "'A Perfectly Proper Picture': Mexico and Art in Katherine Anne Porter's 'Virgin Violeta.'" read by Beth Alvarez, University of Maryland. Jerry Findley of Indiana University presented "Culture, Politics, and International Conflict in 'The Leaning Tower.'" "Katherine Anne Porter and the Feminist Oriental Tale" was the subject of the paper of Mary Titus, St. Olaf's College. Jan Bloemendaal, Leiden University, the Netherlands, served as the respondent.

The society's 2004 business meeting was also held on May 27. Beth Alvarez reported that, on March 31, 2004, the balance in the society's account in the UNLV Foundation was $2,549.46. The society continued to receive support for the newsletter from both UNLV and the University of Maryland. As the cost for an issue of the newsletter generally is $350-$400, the society had adequate funding for six additional issues. Volume XI was scheduled to be published in summer 2004. Membership stood at fifty-nine regular members and nine honorary members. The new by-laws were not implemented in 2004. Articles, news items, announcements, and ideas for future newsletters were solicited, and plans for the Porter session at the 2005 ALA conference were announced. Also announced was the awarding of the second bi-annual Katherine Anne Porter Prize for Prose to Nicholson Baker at the American Academy of Arts and Letters Ceremonial.

On Friday, May 27, 2005, Thomas Austenfeld, North Georgia College and State University, chaired the Katherine Anne Porter session at the 2005 ALA Conference in Boston, Massachusetts, that he organized for the society. Entitled "Determining the Tragic in Katherine Anne Porter's Life and Work," the session featured four papers. Richard Pickering, University of Connecticut, presented "Confronting the Sacco-Vanzetti tragedy in The Never-Ending Wrong." "Falling Down: Motion Imagery, Suffering, and the Downward Path to Wisdom in Katherine Anne Porter's Fiction" was the subject of the paper of Christine Hait, Columbia College. Lisa Roney of the University of Central Florida read "Physical Difference in Ship of Fools: An Interrogation of Eugenics." The final paper by Darlene Unrue, University of Nevada at Las Vegas, was "Katherine Anne Porter and the Ordeal of Maternity."

The society's business meeting also took place on May 27. The balance in the society's account in the UNLV Foundation on April 30, 2005, was $3,375.21; revenue for the fiscal year on that date was $820.00. Membership in May 2005 was seventy-three regular members and eight honorary members. Executive committee members Darlene Unrue, Thomas Austenfeld, Christine Hait, and Beth Alvarez agreed that it is imperative that the implementation of the new by-laws and election of a new president be accomplished in 2005-2006. Members were urged to submit articles, news items, and announcements for the newsletter and future sessions and meetings of the society in San Francisco (May 2006) and Boston (May 2007) were discussed. Announcements included forthcoming publication of Darlene Unrue's Katherine Anne Porter: The Life of An Artist (University Press of Mississippi, September) and Mary Titus's The Ambivalent Art of Katherine Anne Porter (University of Georgia Press, October). The bi-annual Katherine Anne Porter Prize for Prose will be awarded in May 2006 at the American Academy of Arts and Letters.