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University of California, Santa Barbara Davidson Library Department of Special Collections California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives
GUIDE TO THE CASTILLO, ANA PAPERS, 1953-1999.
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. 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." Most recently she published Water Color Women, Opaque Men, a novel in verse (Curbstone Press, 2005). Castillo has coordinated an anthology on la Virgen de Guadalupe entitled La Diosa de las Americas/Goddess of the Americas (Riverside/Putnam, 1996). She 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 (Anchor Books, 2001) and her collection of essays Massacre of the Dreamers. From 1989 to 1994, she taught fiction writing and Latina literature at several colleges, including the University of New Mexico, Mills 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 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).
Until recently Ana Castillo
lived in Chicago with her son. In June 2006 she relocated to her new home in Anthony, New Mexico. In addition to the works cited above, she published Peel My Love Like an Onion (Doubleday) in 1999 and a
children's book My Daughter, My Son, The Eagle, The Dove. In 2005 she
published a dramatic work Psst…I have something to tell you, mi amor
(Wings Press). A noted columnist and essayist, she has written for newspapers
and magazines across the country on various topics as far ranging as the murder
of Tejano singer, Selena; gender roles in the farmworkers movement (Los Angeles Times, 4/20/97); being a mother (Salon,
4/12/99); and feministas turning 50 (Oxygen.com). She has
been profiled and interviewed on National Public Radio and the History Channel,
and has been featured along with Sandra Cisneros and Denise Chavez in Vanity
Fair (9/94) and Hispanic (3/95). 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.
The collection is arranged into five series described as follows:
SERIES DESCRIPTION
Series I-Personal and Biographical Information, 1974-1997. 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. At Castillo's request boxes 1-4 of Series I were returned to her in August of 1999.
Personal Correspondence with Family, 1985-1990. The second subseries, 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.
Personal Correspondence with Friends, 1985-1990. 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. 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.
Published Articles and Interviews, 1990-1997. The material in this series is arranged in alphabetical order. Included are in-depth interviews with Castillo as well as one entire publication dedicated to her and her work (See Baneke).
Series II-Correspondence with Poets and Writers, 1973-1990. 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. 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 Women 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 as a writer. This series takes up one box of twelve folders.
Series IV-Writings, Published and Unpublished, 1973-1998. This series is grouped into four sub series and contains poems, short stories, plays, manuscripts, lectures, and articles for journals and books. The series are arranged as follows:
Miscellaneous Fiction, 1979-1985 is maintained in two folders which contain at least thirty or more different titled and untitled works of fiction; these are arranged chronologically.
Miscellaneous Poetry and Writings, 1973-1985 are maintained in seventeen folders containing 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.
Titled Works, 1975-1990 is 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.
Published Writing in Periodicals, 1993-1998 is arranged alphabetically and contains original versions of articles including excerpts of novels and short stories.
Series V-Silkscreens and Offset Poster, 1987-1982. 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 VI: Subjet Files, 1992. This series currently contains only publications. Included are as issue of Hembra, two issues of The Mills College Weekly and two articles from ¡Exito!. As more materials are donated, this series will grow to reflect inherently significant subjects in which Castillo has been interested throughout her career.
Series VII: Teaching, 1988-1999. This series contains reading material from various courses taught by Castillo at San Francisco State University, Sonoma State and the University of California at Santa Barbara. This material is an example of the subject matter on which Castillo has lectured, such as Chicana/o literature and poetry, feminist journal writing and Chicana writers.
CONTAINER LIST Series I - Personal and Biographical Information. Box Folder Contents
Journals, 1988-1990 (Restricted) 1-4 Boxes one through four were de-accessioned in August 1999. See Scope
Notes for content of Series I Personal
Correspondence with Family, 1985-1990 (Restricted Access) 5 2 Castillo-Marcel Personal Correspondence with Friends, 1985-1990 (Restricted Access) Correspondence,
Incoming 6 5 1985-1986
7 1-3 1988 Cantu
9 1 Maier-Miyaoka Moraga 9 2 1986
Box Folder Contents
Professional Activities, 1974-1990 10 1 Association
of Latino Brotherhood of Artists. Chicago, 1974 10 2 Letters
of Recommendation, 1975-1988 10 10 Women's Foundation. San Francisco, 1988 10 11 Sonoma State University, 1988 10 12
Cal State Chico, 1988-1989
Published Articles and Interviews 24 1 Baneke,
A Latino Arts and Literature Review: Ana Castillo, includes an 24 2 “Calendar,” contain announcements for poetry readings, March 1991 24 3 “Cultura
Club: La Girlfriend comes home” from NewCity, Chicago’s News & Arts 24 4 “Impressions
of a Xicana Dreamer” from The Bloomsbury Review, 24 5 “Interview” from NuCity Summer Literary Supplement, June 19 thru July 1, 1993 24 6 “Mexicana, chicana y xicanista: Ana Castillo”, ¡Exito!, August 15, 1996 16 2 “A New Chapter” from Hispanic Magazine, September 1992 25 1 “A
Rising Star: Castillo Makes her Mark for Chicana Writers” from Albuquerque 16 3 “Yes,
I am a feminist and…” from Ms. Magazine special 25th
anniversary issue,
Series II - Correspondence with Poets & Writers, 1973-1990. Box Folder Contents
11 1 Alvarez-Baca 11 6 1973-1978 Series III - Contracts and Correspondence with Publishers 1977-1990. Box Folder Contents
Miscellaneous
Correspondence 12 2 1980-n.d. 12 5 Kanellos,
Nicolas/Revista Chicano-Riquena /Arte Publico Press. 1977-1988 Series IV - Writings, Published and Unpublished, 1973-1990.
Box Folder Contents
Miscellaneous Fiction, 1979-1985 13 1 Learning
to write short fiction, 1979-1982 13 14 Drafts,
copies-poetry, 1980
Titled Works, 1975 – 1990 14 1 Alex's
Mother, draft one act children's play, 1983 14 4 The
Evolution of the Chicana Writer" Colloquium, 1989 4 pages from 14 6 Hands
Toward Venus: Excerpts from the Journal of a Chicana, developing 16 7 Complete, no notes, n.d. Component parts, ca. 1986 16 8 Chapter 1 16 9 Chapter 2 16 10 Chapter 3 16 11 Chapter 4 16 12 Chapter 5 16 13 Chapter 8 16 14 Cover 17 1 Introduction Final production 17 2 Diskette 17 3 Original documents, 1994 17 4-8 First edition, includes notes, 1994 17 9-11 First revised edition, 1994 17 12 Loose/misc. pages, 1994 17 13 Master, 1994 18 1-2 Master, 1994 18 3-5 PhD version, 1994 University of New Mexico Press, 1987-1993, published 1994 18 6 Introduction 18 7 Chapter 1 18 8 Chapter 2 18 9 Chapter 3 18 10 Chapter 4 18 11 Chapter 5 18 12 Chapter 6 18 13 Chapter 7 18 14 Chapter 8 18 15 Chapter 9, draft dated October 18, 1993 19 1 Chapter 9, draft dated October 22, 1993 19 2 Chapter 10, draft dated October 25, 1993 19 3 Correspondence with University of New Mexico Press 14 8 Massacre
of the Dreamers-Mexican Indian Women in the U.S.: 500 Years 15 4 Otro
Canto, original manuscript, 1977 15 6 Rainbows,
Unlimited, children's story synopsis submitted to Children's 19 5-8 Sapogonia, 2nd pass, 1992 15 7 Sapogonia,
sketches developing Max Madrigal, 1981 19 9 Edited by Gerald “Gerry” Howard, W.W. Norton, June 1992 20 1-3 Edited by Gerald “Gerry” Howard, W.W. Norton, June 1992 20 4-5 Master confirmation, 1992 20 6-7 Master set, 1st pass, 1992 20 8 Master set confirmation, 1992, 1 of 2 23 4 Master set confirmation, 1992, 2 of 2 20 9 Third draft, 1992 21 1-2 Third draft, 1992 21 3-6 Unpublished
German translation rejected and later translated and 21 7-9 Miscellaneous drafts, ca. 1992
Published writing 21 10 “Feminist
Visions”, excerpt from Massacre of the Dreamers published in 25 2 “Looking
for mambo in Little Italy”, written for the Chicago Tribune
special 25 3 “Juan in a Million” from Loverboys, written for USA Weekend, June 14-16, 1996 21 11 “Self
Portrait” from The Womanist, A Woman of Color Journal, Mills College, 21 12 “The
Tortilla Heir” from Latina Magazine, article published for Mother’s Day,
Series V - Silkscreen and Offset Poster, 1987-1982. Box Folder Contents
Cabinet 2 Silkscreen,
of image used on American Book Awards, 84/100 edition by Roland Cabinet 2 Offset
poster of American Book Awards Ceremony, 1987, Philadelphia. Designed
SERIES VI: SUBJECT FILES, 1992, 1999. Box Folder Contents
¡Exito! 25 6 “América
Latina al fin del milenio,” “Exclusiva: Entrevista a Eduardo Galeano”, 25 6 “Morenita
del Tepeyac: Elena Poniatowska rinde homenaje a la Virgen de 25 5 Hembra, March 1992 The Mills College Weekly, 1992 25 6 November 25 6 December
SERIES VII: TEACHING, 1988-1999. Box Folder Contents
22 1-3 Androgyny Reader, SFSU, n.d. 22 4-7 Chicano Literature Reader, Sonoma State University, 1988 22 8-9 Chicano Poetry Reader, 1991 22 10-11 A
Countryless Woman: The Evolution of the Chicana Writer, Special Topics in 22 12-14 Feminist Journal Writing Reader, SFSU, n.d. 23 1-2 Feminist Journal Writing Reader, SFSU, n.d. |
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