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Saint Katy the Virgin

John Steinbeck

First published September 1938
Type Short Fiction
Length Short Story

[T]ells the story of a large pig named Katy, who is said to be among the most evil of all pigs to the point that people even suspect she is possessed by the devil or a like minded demon due to the sow's cruel ways. As the story progresses, however, some local monks come by the farm where Katy had been living, and the local farmer offers Katy to them as an apparent gesture of good will. The monks quickly see, however, that Katy is evil and that the farmer did not intend for anything good to happen to them in the presence of this monstrous hog. Fortunately the clergy men are able to convert Katy to Catholicism and she resolves to abandon her wicked ways for a life of virtue. In time, despite having previously given birth and attempted murder, Katy is regarded by the monks of her monastery as a Virgin and even as a Saint, and the remainder of the story follows her adventures therein. -- from a review

"Saint Katy the Virgin" was originally published in a limited edition of only 199 copies by The Golden Eagle Press for Pascal Covici's Covici-Friede publishing firm in 1936 and was ironically offered as a Christmas gift for friends of the publisher; later the tale was included as one of the stories in The Long Valley in 1938. -- The Literary Encyclopedia

Date Publication Publisher Type Page
September 1938 Cover The Long Valley The Viking Press Collection 189
September 1952 Cover Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow Bantam Books Anthology 116
December 1961 Cover Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow Bantam Books Anthology 99
January 1962 Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow Bantam Books Anthology
March 1967 Cover Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow Bantam Books Anthology 99
January 1968 Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow Bantam Books Anthology 99
September 1968 Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow Bantam Books Anthology 99
November 1968 Cover Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow Bantam Books Anthology 99
August 1970 Cover Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow Bantam Books Anthology 99
August 1972 Cover Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow Bantam Books Anthology 99
1974 Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow Bantam Books Anthology 99
September 1976 Cover Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow Bantam Books Anthology 99
August 1977 Cover Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow Bantam Books Anthology 99
1980 Cover Angels and Awakenings Doubleday Anthology 176
1993 Nobel Dreams Xanadu Anthology |9
1993 Cover Фата-Моргана 7 Флокс Anthology 344
February 1994 Cover Traumwelten: Nobelpreisträger schreiben Fantasy-Geschichten Bastei Lübbe Anthology 243
November 1994 Cover Angels and Awakenings Doubleday Anthology 178
2013 Cover McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, Winter 2013 McSweeney's Books MAGAZINE 303