Winner of the Academy Award (2004) from The American Academy of Arts and Letters, Porter is the author of three short story collections: The Kentucky Stories, Lithuania, and Touch Wood (Turtle Point, 2002); two novels: Eelgrass and Resident Aliens; and two nonfiction books on William Shakespeare. He has won Pushcart Prizes, NEA/PEN Syndicated Fiction awards, and fellowships from the NEA.

“He takes types typically represented as American disasters and rehabilitates them through their own ability to articulate themselves. What’s more, Porter in this process sustains an effort to reclaim for all a considerable portion of our very own language that has steadily been bobbing out with the tide. Understanding perhaps the possibility that the narrower our lexicon, the more likely we are to be victimized by our own minds.”— James Tierney