Katherine Anne Porter was born in Indian Creek, Texas on May 15, 1890. Her birth name is Callie Russell Porter. She lived in New York City, California, Louisiana, Mexico, Washington D.C., and Western Europe. At the young age of sixteen Porter married Henry Koontz in order to escape from her family. Koontz abused Porter and they divorced in 1915. A short time after their divorce, Porter was diagnosed with tuberculosis. At the hospital in which she was staying, a fellow patients husband let Porter begin her journalism career writing for the Fort Worth Critic. In 1920, Porter moved to Mexico to work at a magazine. Her experiences during this time were the basis for her first published story, “ Maria Conception.” In 1929 Porter created her fictional alter ego Miranda Gay. The first story in
Katherine Anne Porter was a very unique writer. She was compared to many other writers, but none of them truly shared her style. Her influences for writing were her life experience and she was not really influenced by other writers.