“I started out with nothing in the world but a kind of passion, a driving desire. I don’t know where it came from, and I don’t know why—or why I have been so stubborn about it that nothing could deflect me. But this thing between me and my writing is the strongest bond I have ever had—stronger than any bond or engagement with any human being or any other work I’ve ever done.”—Short-story writer and novelist (Ship of Fools) Katherine Anne Porter, born on this date in 1890, quoted in The Writer's Chapbook: A Compendium of Fact, Opinion, Wit, and Advice from the Twentieth Century's Preeminent Writers, edited by George Plimpton (1999)
For a fascinating essay on Porter, “the first modern white woman writer to turn Southern racism and machismo and their ramifications into art,” see this piece by Hilton Als that ran in The New Yorker a year ago.
(Thanks to my friend Holly for the continuing inspiration.)
For a fascinating essay on Porter, “the first modern white woman writer to turn Southern racism and machismo and their ramifications into art,” see this piece by Hilton Als that ran in The New Yorker a year ago.
(Thanks to my friend Holly for the continuing inspiration.)
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