Call Number:

C0395

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

10 boxes

Language:

Spanish; Castilian

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Alejandra Pizarnik Papers, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1954-1972 (inclusive) and 1960-1972 (bulk)

Creator:

Pizarnik, Alejandra, 1936-1972

Form:

Diaries., Drawings., Manuscripts., and Notebooks.

Abstract:

The Alejandra Pizarnik Papers consists of diaries, manuscripts, correspondence, drawings, and other papers of the Argentine poet Alejandra Pizarnik (1936-1972).

Alejandra Pizarnik, also known as Flora Alejandra, was born to Russian Jewish immigrant parents on April 29, 1936, in Avellaneda, Buenos Aires, Argentina. When she was 20, a year after entering the department of philosophy and letters at the Universidad de Buenos Aires, Pizarnik published her first book of poetry, La tierra más ajena (1955). Soon after, she left the university to study painting with Juan Batlle Planas. This graphic arts experience influenced Pizarnik's poetry; she was conscientious of the layout of words on the page almost like a drawing.1 Pizarnik followed her debut work with two more volumes of poems, La última inocencia (1956) and Las adventuras perdidas (1958).

From 1960 to 1964 Pizarnik lived a frugal but happy and productive existence in Paris. There she worked for the journal Cuadernos, sat on the editorial board of the magazine Les Lettres Nouvelles, and participated in the thriving Parisian literary world, meeting or befriending prominent French and Latin American writers. Pizarnik also attended a variety of courses at the Sorbonne, including contemporary French literature. The freedom and inspiration of Paris encouraged Pizarnik's own literary production. During this time she wrote Arból de Diana (1962, with a prologue by Octavio Paz), as well as published other poems in French and Latin American journals. Upon her return to Buenos Aires, Pizarnik published Los trabajos y las noches (1965), which primarily consisted of poems composed in Paris. This work went on to win both the Primer Premio Municipalidad de Buenos Aires and the Fondo Nacional de las Artes. On the merits of her writing, Pizarnik would later receive a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1969 and a Fulbright in 1971.

Extracción de la piedra de locura (1968, containing writing from 1962 to 1966) and El infierno musical (1971) have a different tone than her earlier poetry; they are primarily characterized by darkness and madness, two recurring themes in both Pizarnik's writing and life. La condesa sangrienta (1965), a work of prose loosely based on historic fact, takes these themes one step further. In this text and other writings from this period, Pizarnik explores her fascination with sadism, obscenity, and the grotesque. Other themes in Pizarnik's poetry include depression, alienation, and the difficulty of communication. These motifs combine to produce poems full of internal torment and near-palpable pain. Not surprisingly, she nurtured an obsession with suicide which would later become a self-fulfilling prophesy.

On September 25, 1972, Pizarnik died of an overdose of Seconal while at home for the weekend from a psychiatric clinic. Julio Cortázar, Olga Orozco, and others paid homage to the thirty-six year old with poems written in her honor. Even posthumously, Pizarnik's poetic voice continued to be heard through the release of collections of her previously unpublished writings.

Consists primarily of writings in the form of diaries (1954-1972), notebooks (circa 1956- 1972), and poetry, fiction, and non-fiction manuscripts ([195?]-1972). The diaries contain some text manuscripts in addition to the typical diary entries, while the notebooks combine manuscripts, drawings, notes, and letters. The majority of the poetry, fiction, and non-fiction manuscripts are individually titled or identified by their first verse or line; but there are others grouped together as per Pizarnik's original order or in miscellaneous edited and unedited manuscript folders. The correspondence received by Pizarnik is not extensive, but includes many Latin American literary figures. There are also a few letters written by the poet to others, as well as a small selection of artwork by Pizarnik and others, printed material, and miscellanea.