Katherine Anne Porter

Name at birth: Callie Russell Porter

Katherine Anne Porter was an American short-story writer who had her greatest success with her only novel, the allegorical epic Ship of Fools (1962). Raised by her grandmother in Texas and Louisiana, Porter's young life was famously colorful and included three failed marriages, travels in Europe and Mexico and a stint as a journalist. Her first collection of short stories, Flowering Judas, was published in 1930 and launched her career as a well-regarded practioner of the form. Her other acclaimed collections include Pale Horse, Pale Rider (1939) and 1965's The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter (winner of the National Book Award).