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Professor Christine Hait of Columbia College chaired the Katherine Anne Porter Society's session held in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Thursday, May 24, 2001. The session began with "Katherine Anne Porter and the Poetics of the Crazy Quilt" read by Elisabeth Lamothe, Université de Bordeaux, France. Gary Ciuba of Kent State University, Trumbull, presented "'Given Only Me for Model': Disciples of Desire in Porter's The Old Order." "Katherine Anne Porter and the Southern Circus Intertext" was the subject of the paper of Patricia L. Bradley of Northern Kentucky University. North Georgia College and State University Professor Thomas Austenfeld's paper was "Ethical Criticism and Porter's Voice."

The society's business meeting also took place on May 24. President Beth Alvarez reported that the balance in the Society's account in the UNLV Foundation in 2000 was $1,096.00. In fiscal year 2000-2001, the society had no expenses and had revenue of $148.46. The balance in the society's account in May 2001 was $1,244.46. 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. Beth Alvarez will chair the session to be held in Long Beach, California, in May 2002. The title of the session will be "Katherine Anne Porter's Non-Fiction," and those present were urged to submit paper proposals for the session. Darlene Unrue will chair the May 2003 session in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Members were urged to organize a Porter session for the March 2002 Society for the Study of Southern Literature conference to be held in Lafayette, Louisiana.

The meeting concluded with Beth Alvarez's account of the move of the Porter papers and Porter Room from McKeldin Library to Hornbake Library at the University of Maryland between January and April 2001. Members in attendance at the meeting included Barbara Thompson Davis, Trustee for the Literary Estate of Katherine Anne Porter, and Jan Bloemendaal of Leiden University in the Netherlands.