This volume brings together twenty-nine pieces dating from before 1932, none of which appeared in Porter's collected works and many of which are published here for the first time. Both fiction and essays are covered. All these pieces belong to Porter's apprenticeship as a creative writer. Thus, they offer new insights into her artistic development and her relationship with Mexico, a place that, as she later said, "influenced everything I did afterward."

Ruth M. Alvarez is an independent scholar who holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Maryland. The late Thomas F. Walsh was a professor of English at Georgetown University and author of Katherine Anne Porter and Mexico: The Illusion of Eden (UT Press).