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Alarcón (Norma) papers
CEMA 110
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections
Title: Norma Alarcón Papers
Identifier/Call Number: CEMA 110
Physical Description:
21 Linear Feet
(55 document boxes and 6 oversize boxes)
Date (inclusive): circa mid to late 20th century
Abstract: Consists of 61 boxes containing records related to Third Woman Press, Helaine Victoria Press, and fempress including correspondence,
unpublished manuscripts, interviews, photographs, research notes, grants, and reviews related to Third Woman Press. Other
materials include academic records, academic journals, personal photographs, brochures, organizational files, and other ephemera
spanning from c. 1935-2003.
Physical Location: Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library
Language of Material: This collection is largely in English with some materials in Spanish and Portuguese.
Consists of 61 boxes containing records related to Third Woman Press, Helaine Victoria Press, and fempress including correspondence,
unpublished manuscripts, interviews, photographs, research notes, grants, and reviews related to Third Woman Press. Other
materials include academic records, academic journals, personal photographs, brochures, organizational files, and other ephemera
spanning from c. 1935-2003.
Norma Alarcon is a celebrated writer and publisher and is a leading Chicana feminist. She was founder and publisher of Third
Woman Press that began as a journal in 1979 and became one of the most influential literary journals in Latina feminist literature.
Between 1984 and 2004, Third Woman Press published more than thirty books and anthologies giving voice to Latina writers such
as Sandra Cisneros, Ana Castillo, and Gloria Anzaldua.
Alarcón was born in Villa Frontera in Coahuila, Mexico, in 1943. In 1955, her family moved to San Antonio, Texas, for a short
time, then to Chicago, Illinois, where she later attended De Paul University and, subsequently, Indiana University where she
earned her B.A., M.A. and a Ph.D. with a focus on Spanish literature. The topic of her 1983 dissertation was, "Ninfomanía:
El Discurso Feminista en la Obra de Rosario Castellanos."
From 1983 to 1987, she was Assistant Professor of Spanish at Purdue University. From 1987 to 1991, during her teaching tenure
at UC Berkeley, she was Assistant Professor of Ethnic/Chicano Studies; then from 1991 to 1996 was Associate Professor of Ethnic/Chicano
Studies and Women's Studies. From 1996 until her retirement from the University of California in 2004, she was Professor of
Ethnic/Chicano Studies and Women's Studies.
Norma Alarcon is considered noteworthy for her great contributions to postmodern Chicana feminism.
The container list is arranged by subject and contents are described mostly at the item level. The five major series include
Personal and Biographical, Academic, Wiritng and Writers, Research Files, and Audiovisual Files. Sub-series are broken down
by content type - such as correspondence, periodicals, photographs, etc. - by type of publication, or by place. Files are
physically arranged in numerical order according to folder number rather than being grouped into their series. One may need
to request more than one box to access folders within the same series.
This collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Research Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish
or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Research Collections. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of the Department of Special Research Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.
[Identification of Item], Norma Alarcón papers, CEMA 110. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library,
University of California, Santa Barbara.