Description
This collection of figurines, small clay pots, masks, rattles, candles, altar cloths, and other ephemera was used by Gloria
Anzaldúa as altar (altares) objects at her home in Santa Cruz, California. These altares were an integral part of her spiritual
life and creative process as a writer.
Background
"I sit here before my computer, Amiguita, my altar on top of the monitor with the Virgen de Coatlalopeuh candle and copal
incense burning. My companion, a wooden serpent staff with feathers, is to my right while I ponder the ways metaphor and symbol
concretize the spirit and etherealize the body. The Writing is my whole life, it is my obsession."
Gloria E. Anzaldúa from Borderlands/La Frontera (Aunt Lute Books, 1999)
Extent
25 boxes, 1 roll box
Restrictions
Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and
their heirs. For permission to publish or to reproduce the material, please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.
Availability
This collection is open for viewing.