Guide to the Ana Castillo Papers, 1953-
Project archivist: Salvador Güereña; processed by Rosemarie León; machine-readable finding aid created by
Michael C. Conkin
Department of Special Collections
Davidson Library
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Phone: (805) 893-3062
Fax: (805) 893-5749
Email: special@library.ucsb.edu
URL: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/speccoll/speccoll.html
© 1998
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Guide to the Ana Castillo Papers, 1953-
Collection number: CEMA 2
California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives
Donald C. Davidson Library
Department of Special Collections
University of California, Santa Barbara
Contact Information:
- Department of Special Collections
- Davidson Library
- University of California, Santa Barbara
- Santa Barbara, CA 93106
- Phone: (805) 893-3062
- Fax: (805) 893-5749
- Email: special@library.ucsb.edu
- URL: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/speccoll/speccoll.html
- Project Archivist:
- Salvador Güereña
- Processors:
- Rosemarie León
- Date Completed:
- November 1995
- Encoded by:
- Michael C. Conkin
© 1998 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Ana Castillo Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1953-
Collection number: CEMA 2
Creator: Castillo, Ana
Extent: Seven linear feet
Repository:
University of California, Santa Barbara. Library. California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives
Shelf location: For current information on the location of these
materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Provenance
Donated by Ana Castillo, June 1990
Restrictions
Three subseries designated confidential at request of donor
Publication Rights
Copyright resides with donor
Comments
Processed as part of the California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives (CEMA). Funded in
part by the Office of the President, University of California, under the provisions of
Senate Concurrent Resolution 43.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Ana Castillo Papers, CEMA 2, Special Collections, University of
California, Santa Barbara.
Biographical Sketch
Ana Castillo (June 15, 1953-) is a celebrated poet, novelist, short story writer, and
esaayist. Castillo was born and raised in Chicago. She has one son, Marcel Ramón Herrera,
born in Evanston, Illinois, on September 21, 1983. In 1993, Castillo married George R.
Esenwein, an associate professor of history at the University of Florida, Gainesville.
Long considered one of the leading voices to emerge from the Chicana experience, Castillo
is a prolific author whose work has been critically acclaimed and widely anthologized in
the United States and abroad. Ilan Stavans writes "She is the most daring and
experimental of Latino novelists." Castillo's books include the novel,
The
Mixquiahuala Letters
(Bilingual Review Press, 1986; Doubleday, 1992), for which
she received the Before Columbia Foundation's American Book Award in 1987.
Sapogonia (Bilingual Review Press, 1990), is a complex and engaging novel
and a literary triumph, according to the renowned Chicano novelist Rudolfo Anaya who
calls Castillo "one of our finest Chicana novelists." Her more recent books include the
novel
So Far From God (Norton, 1993), which earned her both the Carl
Sandburg Literary Award in Fiction of 1993 and the Mountains and Plains Bookseller Award
of 1994, and a work of non-fiction,
Massacre of the Dreamers: Reflections on
Mexican-Indian Women in the United States 500 Years After the Conquest
(University of New Mexico, 1992). Michael Sinayerson writes in
Vanity Fair
that her essays "make the case for a new, agggressive brand of feminism she calls
Xicanisma, to win brown women a place in a black-and-white country." The 1991 edition of
Hispanic Writers describes Castillo's epistolary novel,
The
Mixquiahuala Letters,
as a probing description of the relationship between the
sexes that encompasses both Mexican and United States Hispanic forms of love and gender
conflict. That work has been hailed as having "ushered the Chicana voice into the
feminist discourse with a bang." One critic of Chicana literature, Norma Alarcón, has
identified the deft use of irony as one of Castillo's trademarks. Another, Alvina
Quintana, believes that "her style reflects the influence and power of many of Latin
America's greatest writers."
As a poet Castillo is the author of several works, including the chapbooks
Otro
Canto
(1977) and
The Invitation (1979); these were followed by
several volumes of poetry which include
Women Are Not Roses (Arte Publico,
1984), and
My Father Was a Toltec (West End Press, 1988). In reference to
Women Are Not Roses Marisa Cantu writes, "Castillo's artistry lies in her
ability to discover the meaning in the random experiences that fill our lives and
communicate directly to us in sensuous, heartfelt bursts of revelation."
Currently (1995) Castillo is coordinating an anthology on la Virgen de Guadalupe entitled
La Diosa de las Americas/Goddess of the Americas (Riverside/Putnam, 1996).
She has also signed a three-book contract with W. W. Norton: one of new poetry, another a
collection of short fictions, and the last one a novel.
Castillo, along with Norma Alarcon and others, co-founded the literary magazine
Third Woman; she has since been a contributing editor to
Third
Woman
and
Humanizarte magazines. Castillo's speaking engagements
are extensive and have been internationally sponsored, including the Sorbonne University
(1985-1986), and a Germany reading tour (1987) sponsored by the German Association of
Americanists. In 1988 Castillo was honored by the Women's Foundation of San Francisco for
her "pioneering excellence in literature." She was featured, along with three other
renowned Chicana writers Sandra Cisneros, Julia Alvarez, and Denise Chávez, in
Vanity Fair (September 1994) and
Hispanic (March 1995).
Castillo's education was in Chicago. Following her graduation from Jone's Commercial High
School, she attended Chicago City College for two years before entering Northeastern
Illinois University, where she received a B.A. in 1975, majoring in Art and minoring in
Secondary Education. Castillo then relocated to Sonoma County, California where she
taught Ethnic Studies at Santa Rosa Jr. College in 1975-76. Between 1977 and 1979 she was
a writer in residence for the Illinois Arts Council. Due to her keen interest in Latin
America, she became a Graduate Fellow in 1979, earning an M.A. degree in Latin American
and Caribbean Studies in the Social Science Division at the University of Chicago. She
was a community activist throughout the 1970s. Throughout this period, Castillo taught
English as a Second Language, Mexican and Mexican American history in community colleges
in the Chicago and San Franisco areas. She returned to California from 1986 to 1990,
where she taught feminist journal writing, women's studies, creative writing, and Chicano
literature at various colleges and universities.
From 1989 to 1990 Castillo was a Dissertation Fellow in the Chicano Studies Department at
the University of California, Santa Barbara. It was there that she continued her work on
a new collection of poetry,
I Ask the Impossible, her collection of essays
and
Massacre of the Dreamers. From 1989 to 1994, she taught fiction
writing and Latina literature at several colleges, including the University of New
Mexico, Mill College of Oakland, CA, and Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA.
Supported partly by a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in this period,
Castillo finished
So Far from God: OK in 1993. It has been also published
in Great Britain, Germany, and elsewhere. Castillo received a Ph.D. in American Studies
from the University of Bremen, Germany, in 1991. In 1995, Castillo won a fellowship from
the National Endowment for the Arts for creative writing (fiction).
SCOPE NOTE
The contents of the Ana Castillo Collection represent the beginnings of a prolific
Chicana writer and teacher, whose body of work is expected to grow significantly as her
career continues to develop. The material in this collection provides much insight into
the formative processes in the evolution of a writer. The writings in the collection date
back to Castillo's college years; at the time, Castillo was active in organizing Latino
artists, the Association of Latino Brotherhood of Artists was one such group. Her first
major work,
Otro Canto (1977), reflects the socio-political themes of
oppression of Third World men and women. With the publication of
The
Invitation
(1979), the thematic emphasis in her poetry is on feminist and Latina
sexuality. The Castillo Papers consist of daily journals, personal and professional
correspondence, files documenting Castillo's professional activities, a few photographs,
silkscreen drawings, and manuscripts to her published and unpublished writings. The
records date from 1973 to 1990 and are housed in sixteen archival boxes spanning seven
linear feet. The collection will be augmented on a continuing basis.
Note
The collection is arranged into five series described as follows:
Series I-Personal and Biographical Information, 1974-1990
Scope and Content Note
This series, consisting of four subseries, is contained in ten archival boxes and is the
largest series in the Ana Castillo Papers. The first subseries,
Journals, 1988-1990, consists of twenty journals primarily from
1989, which are arranged chronologically. These journals represent the time period when
Castillo was teaching at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Journal writing
naturally reveals the personal thoughts, opinions, life experiences and creative ideas of
the writer at that given time. Journals provide insight on the writer's life experiences
and possible connections between the creative writings that may result, in part, from
them. In addition, the journals have been personalized further with dried flowers,
photographs, newsclippings, letters, postcards and other memorabilia. Because of the
highly personal nature of these journals, they are classified confidential at this time,
at the request of the donor. The journals will be accessible ten years after the donor's
death or the year 2038, whichever comes first. The journals represented in the
collection, at this time, reflect only a small time period in the life of Castillo.
The second subseries,
Personal Correspondence with Family,
1985-1990
is of a personal nature, and to ensure the privacy of the persons
involved, is designated confidential and subject to the restrictions stated above.
Included in this subseries are mostly greeting cards celebrating Castillo's and her son's
birthday and holidays. There are also some correspondence and note cards from parents,
and family members. This incoming correspondence is arranged alphabetically by sender,
with envelopes immediately following the corresponding letter or card. Blank sheets of
paper separate the items when there is no envelope.
The third subseries,
Personal Correspondence with Friends, 1985-1990,is also designated confidential to ensure the privacy of the persons involved.
This correspondence is incoming only and is arranged alphabetically by the sender's last
name. A large portion of the correspondence is primarily from two individuals. There is
some overlap in that some of the correspondence found in this series is with other
writers, of which there is a separate Series II, specifically for correspondence of this
type. Materials, for the most part, are organized according to Castillo's original filing
order. The files take up four boxes with an average of ten folders per box.
Professional Activities, 1974-1990, is the fourth subseries.
The types of material included are Castillo's membership in associations, letters of
recommendation, correspondence related to fellowships received, teaching activities, and
other professional activities in relation to her work as a writer and teacher. This
subseries takes up one box of fourteen folders and is arranged chronologically, with
contents of each folder in their original filing order, retaining the same file headings
for the container listing. Of special interest, photographs of Ana Castillo and other
performing artists, such as the Association of Latino Brotherhood of Artists (1974), and
the Gypsy-flamenco group, Al-Andalus (1980) can be found in folders 1 and 4. In respect
to the latter, Castillo recited her poetry and that of famous Spanish writers, with
vocals and music performed by Pepe Culata and Tomás de Utrera; the trio performed in
honor of a Day of the Dead Exhibition in Chicago. Folders 6 and 7 contain a variety of
material, including an original manuscript, flyers, photographs, publicity, personal
correspondence and reviews pertaining to the musical production of Castillo's work, "The
Invitation," directed by Delfor Peralta at the Soho Arts Festival in 1982. In addition,
two folders on California readings provide an indication of the variety and level of
activities in which Castillo participated.
Series II-Correspondence with Poets and Writers, 1973-1990
Scope and Content Note
The material in this series is especially insightful to her creative process. Castillo's
correspondence reflects an ongoing exchange of literary ideas, includes samples of other
writers' works, and illuminates her thinking on the themes of the relation between poetry
and social/political involvement, Chicana writers, women writers, and in general, the
development of contemporary literature. Two folders of correspondence from Carol Maier
include copies of some writings analyzing Ana Castillo's work. The correspondence is all
incoming and arranged alphabetically by sender's last name. This series takes up one box
of 12 folders
Series III-Correspondence and Contracts with Publishers, 1977-1990
Scope and Content Note
The material in this series is organized in the folders according to provenance, which
maintains their original order. Folders with miscellaneous correspondence/contracts from
various publishers are arranged chronologically, followed by one folder of miscellaneous
submissions for publication. These files reveal the publishers Castillo was in contact
with during this time period. After that, Castillo ordered her material alphabetically by
title of work and all correspondence, publicity, contracts, etc. relating to that
particular work are in one folder. Works included here are:
The Invitation,
My Father was a Toltec,
Otro Canto and
omen
are not Roses.
Included is correspondence with Nicolás Kanellos of
Revista
Chicano-Riqueña,
the journal in which Castillo's work first appeared in a
national publication (1975). Kanellos gives editorial criticism on a draft of
The
Invitation,
as well as feedback on Castillo's development a writer. This series
takes up one box of twelve folders.
Series IV-Writings, Published and Unpublished, 1973-1990
Scope and Content Note
This series contains poems, short stories, plays, manuscripts, lectures, and articles for
journals and books. There are two folders which contain at least thirty or more different
titled and untitled works of fiction; these are arranged chronologically as
Miscellaneous Fiction, 1979-1985, followed by
Miscellaneous Poetry and Writings, 1973-1985. There are seventeen
folders of over 100 original poems and writings that are the creative core of the
Castillo Papers. It is revealing to examine the early drafts of her works and note their
evolution. These two subseries take up one box. Inside the folders, any correspondence,
contracts, and publicity relating to that work was left ordered as found. Folder titles
in the container list, largely follow Castillo's original file folder headings. Following
the miscellaneous poetry, are
Titled Works, 1975-1990 which
takes up two boxes of eight folders each, arranged alphabetically by title of work.
Included here are several play manuscripts from the early 1980s and an unpublished
bilingual poetry manuscript titled "Pajaros Engañosos/Deceitful Birds," which was
submitted to
Cross-Cultural Communications in 1982, with correspondence.
In this manuscript is at least one poem that was later included in
Women Are Not
Roses,
published in 1984 by Arte Publico Press. In addition, there is an early
draft manuscript of
Mixquiahuala Letters/Sapogonia from 1976-1979 that is
different from the final published versions. There is a first draft book manuscript,
Massacre of the Dreamers completed while Castillo was in residency at
UCSB. Also found here is Castillo's first poetry manuscript, titled, "I Close My
Eyes...To See" dated 1975. At least three poems, "El Ser Mujer," "Homenaje al Gato,"
"Mental Exercises" and others were later published in other works. In Box 15 is an
original draft manuscript of
The Mixquiahuala Letters and correspondence
with the publisher. A decision was made to keep the manuscript in Series IV with other
writings and not to separate the correspondence, even though publisher correspondence is
kept in Series III.
Series V-Silkscreens and Offset Poster, 1987-1982
Scope and Content Note
This is the smallest series of the collection. Included is a silkscreen by Delilah
Montoya which has been dedicated to Castillo by the poet/artist Alurista. Another
silkscreen by R. Ayers publicizes a book award ceremony and so does an offset poster
Series I - Personal and Biographical Information
Journals, 1988-1990
Access Information
(CONFIDENTIAL)
Box 1, Folder 1
Aug. 9, 1988 -Sept. 25, 1988
Folder 2
Sept. 25, 1988 -Nov. 25, 1988
Folder 3
Nov. 16, 1988 -Jan. 21, 1989
Folder 4
Jan. 11, 1989 -Feb. 26, 1989
Folder 5
Mar. 20, 1989 -May 15, 1989
Box 2, Folder 1
May 30, 1989 -Jul. 6, 1989
Folder 2
Jul. 7, 1989 -Jul. 31, 1989
Folder 3
Jul. 31, 1989 -Aug. 10, 1989
Folder 4
Aug. 10, 1989 -Sept. 1, 1989
Folder 5
Sept. 1, 1989 -Sept. 21, 1989
Folder 6
Sept. 21, 1989 -Oct. 30, 1989
Box 3, Folder 1
Oct. 12, 1989 -Nov. 6, 1989
Folder 2
Nov. 7, 1989 -Nov. 30, 1989
Folder 3
Nov. 23, 1989 -Dec. 15, 1989
Folder 4
Dec. 16, 1989 -Jan. 9, 1990
Folder 5
Jan. 9, 1990 -Jan. 29, 1990
Box 4, Folder 1
Jan. 29, 1990 -Mar. 6, 1990
Folder 2
Mar. 7, 1990 -Mar. 25, 1990
Folder 3
Mar. 26, 1990 -Apr. 15, 1990
Folder 4
Apr. 16, 1990 -Jun. 9, 1990
Personal Correspondence with Family, 1985-1990
Access Information
(CONFIDENTIAL)
Personal Correspondence with Friends, 1985-1990
Access Information
(CONFIDENTIAL)
Professional Activities, 1974-1990
Box 10, Folder 1
Association of Latino Brotherhood of Artists. Chicago, 1974
Folder 2
Letters of Recommendation, 1975-1988
Folder 3
Illinois Arts Council, 1977-1986
Folder 5
Outstanding Young Women of Ameri ca. 1981-1982
Folder 6
"The Invitation". Production Soho Arts Festival, New York City, 1982
Folder 7
"The Invitation". Production Soho Arts Festival, New York City, 1982
Folder 8
California Readings, 1984-1990
Folder 9
California Readings, 1984-1990
Folder 10
Women's Foundation. San Francisco, 1988
Folder 11
Sonoma State University, 1988
Folder 12
Cal State Chico, 1988-1989
Folder 13
California Arts Council Fellowship (Category: Fiction) 1989
Folder 14
UCSB Chicana Dissertation Fellowship, 1989-1990
Series II - Correspondence with Poets & Writers, 1973-1990
Folder 5
Fogarty-Lesbisch Archief Leeuwarden
Series III - Contracts and Correspondence with Publishers, 1977-1990
Box 12
Miscellaneous Correspondence
Folder 3
Miscellaneous Submissions for Publication, 1987-1988
Folder 4
The Invitation, 2nd edition San Francisco, 1986-1988
Folder 5
Kanellos, Nicolas/
Revista Chicano-Riquena /Arte Publico Press. 1977-1988
Folder 6
My Father Was a Toltec. Contract and correspondence, 1987-1990
Folder 7
Otro Canto. Contract with Publications, 1978
Folder 8
Women Are Not Roses. Contract and related material, 1980-1987
Series IV - Writings, Published and Unpublished, 1973-1990
Miscellaneous Fiction, 1979-1985
Box 13, Folder 1
Learning to write short fiction, 1979-1982
Folder 2
Learning to write short fiction, 1983-1985
Miscellanenous Poetry and Writings, 1973-1985
Box 13, Folder 3
Originals, drafts, copies-poetry, 1973-n.d.
Folder 4
Originals, drafts, copies-poetry, 1973-1976
Folder 6
Originals, drafts, copies-poetry and writings, 1974-1975
Folder 8
Originals, drafts, copies-poetry and writings, 1976
Folder 10
Originals, copies-poetry, 1977
Folder 11
Drafts, originals, copies-poetry, 1978
Folder 12
Drafts, originals, copies-poetry, 1978-1979
Folder 13
Copies-fiction and poetry, 1979
Folder 14
Drafts, copies-poetry, 1980
Folder 16
Drafts, copies-poetry, 1982
Folder 17
Drafts, copies-poetry, 1983 (includes one dated 1986)
Folder 18
Drafts, copies-poetry, 1984
Folder 19
Drafts, copies-poetry, 1985
Box 14, Folder 1
"Alex's Mother," draft one act children's play, 1983
Folder 2
"Clark Street Counts," play in progress, 1982
Folder 3
"The Company of Men: Un Cliche," draft play in progress, 1982
Folder 4
"The Evolution of the Chicana Writer" Colloquium, 1989 (includes 4 pages from "Sapogonia")
Folder 5
"Ghost Talk," short story, 1983
Folder 6
"Hands Toward Venus: Excerpts from the Journal of a Chicana," developing fiction from journal, 1980
Folder 7
"I Close My Eyes...To See," first poetry manuscript, 1975
Folder 8
"Massacre of the Dreamers-Mexican Indian Women in the U.S.: 500 Years After the Conquest," first draft- essays, 1990
Box 15, Folder 1
The Mixquiahuala Letters and
Sapogonia, earlydraft manuscript, 1976-1979
Folder 2
The Mixquiahuala Letters, original draft submitted to Bilingual Review Press, 1984 (includes publisher correspondence)
Folder 3
My Father Was a Toltec, early drafts, n.d.
Folder 4
"Otro Canto," original manuscript, 1977
Folder 5
"Pajaros Enga osos/Deceitful Birds," unpublished poetry manuscript for Cross-Cultural communications, n.d. (includes publisher correspondence)
Folder 6
"Rainbows, Unlimited," children's story synopsis submitted to Children's Books, San Francisco, 1983
Folder 7
"Sapogonia," sketches developing Max Madrigal, 1981
Folder 8
"Sexuality In Chicana Poetry," draft of paper, 1986
Series V - Silkscreen and Offset Poster, 1987-1982
Box 16, Folder 1
Silkscreen, untitled, 8/10 edition by Delilah M. Montoya, 1982. Dedicated to Ana from Alurista, signed June, 1986
Folder 2
Silkscreen, of image used on American Book Awards, 84/100 edition by Roland Ayers, 1987
Folder 3
Offset poster of American Book Awards Ceremony, 1987, Philadelphia. Designed by Roland Ayers, 1987