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Lorenzo García Vega Papers
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Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Lorenzo García Vega was born in 1926 in Jagüey Grande, in the province of Matanzas, Cuba. A poet living in exile since the late 1960s, García Vega is best known for his involvement in the literary group Orígenes. Over his lifetime, he has published nearly two dozen works of poetry and prose, and in 1952 won Cuba's Premio Nacional de Literatura. García Vega became a polemical figure with the publication of Los años de Orígenes [1978] a book that offered an alternate view of the famed literary group than the one traditionally held by the Cuban reading public. Reviled for his representation of José Lezama Lima, the group's founder, García Vega has since suffered a kind of double exile: the first from Cuba, and the second from the Cuban literary and intellectual milieu to which he formerly belonged. Despite this, writers such as Antonio José Ponte and Victor Fowler celebrate García Vega's work, abundant with repetition and often fragmented or elliptical, for its innovation and literary radicalism.
Since leaving Cuba, García Vega has lived in Madrid, New York, and Caracas before settling in Miami, Florida, where he currently resides. For years he bagged groceries in the local Publix supermarket, an experience that he refers to in his memoir El oficio de perder [2005]. Between the years 2000-2008 García Vega wrote regular columns in the "Artes y Letras" section of the newspaper "El Nuevo Herald" (Miami, Florida).
Major published works
Erogando trizas donde gotas de lo vario pinto [2011]
Lo que voy siendo: antología poética [2009]
Devastación del Hotel San Luis [2007]
Papeles sin ángel [2005]
No mueras sin laberinto: poemas (1998-2004) [2005]
Una Cuba: cinco voces [2005]
Cuerdas para Aleister [2005]
El oficio de perder [2005]
Palíndromo en otra cerradura. Homenaje a Duchamp [1999]
Vilis [1998]
Espacios para lo huyuyo [1993]
Collages de un notario [1993]
Variaciones a como veredicto para sol de otras dudas [1993]
Poemas para penúltima vez 1948-1989 [1991]
Los años de Orígenes [1979]
Rostros del reverso [1977]
Ritmos acribillados [1972]
Antología de la novela cubana [1960]
Cetrería del títere [1960]
Espirales del cuje [1951]
"Suite" para la espera: poemas [1948]
The Lorenzo García Vega Papers consists of manuscript first drafts (see Notebooks), one handwritten manuscript of Palíndromo en otra cerradura: Homenaje a Duchamp, a computer printout of "Cuaderno del Bagboy" and computer printout of Devastación del Hotel San Luis with corrections by the Argentine writer Héctor Libertella. Of significance to this collection are twenty-nine notebooks in which García Vega recorded daily diary entries, ideas, drafts of poems, stories and correspondence, fragments of poems and stories, recollections of dreams, quotations, and responses to literature and art. In many cases it appears that García Vega reused notebooks of his spouse or child, writing on top of or around another person's notations. Most of the notebooks are undated, and yet some may date into the 2000s, with content possibly related to García Vega's newspaper columns, also included in the collection.
The correspondence in the collection includes letters received by García Vega, dating from 1969 until 1996, though undated letters from Héctor Libertella regarding the manuscript of Devastación del Hotel San Luis [2007] may date into the 2000s. Most notable are multiple letters from Guido Llinás, Octavio Paz, and Manuel Díaz Martínez.
The collection also contains newspaper clippings of articles by García Vega for the Miami newspaper "El Nuevo Herald" and clippings of articles about García Vega.
Arranged in three series: Writings, Correspondence, and Printed Material.
Fowler, Victor, "De un notario incómodo," Revista Encuentro de la cultura cubana 21/22 (2001): 38-43; Ponte, Antonio José, El libro perdido de los Origenistas. Sevilla: Editorial Renacimiento, 2004; Ponte, Antonio José. Prólogo to El oficio de perder, by Lorenzo García Vega, 7-11. Sevilla: Espuela de Plata, 2005.
Purchased from Lorenzo Garcia Vega in 2011 August (AM2012-19).
For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.
This collection was processed by Jill Baron in 2011. Finding aid written by Jill Baron in 2011.
No materials were separated during 2011 processing.
People
Organization
Subject
- Cuban literature -- 20th century
- Cuban poetry -- 20th century
- Exiles' writings, Cuban -- 20th century
- Latin American literature
- Latin American poetry
- Poets, Cuban -- 20th century -- Notebooks, sketchbooks, etc
Place
- Publisher
- Manuscripts Division
- Finding Aid Author
- Jill Baron
- Finding Aid Date
- 2011
- Access Restrictions
-
The collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
-
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Collection Inventory
This series consists of manuscripts, notebooks, and clippings of published articles by García Vega.
Arranged by format.
Physical Description7 boxes
This subseries consists of three manuscripts. Formats include one autograph manuscript (AMs) and two computer printouts, one of which has autograph corrections.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description1 box
AMs
Physical Description1 folder
TMs
Physical Description1 folder
TMs with corrections. Includes 2 TLsS from Héctor Libertella regarding the manuscript.
Physical Description1 folder
Most notebooks in this subseries are undated and unnamed. Where there is a date or title, it is indicated. Otherwise, the notebooks are arranged loosely based on physical likeness or theme, as apparent in the content.
This subseries consists of 29 notebooks in which García Vega recorded daily diary entries, ideas, drafts of poems, stories and correspondence, fragments of poems and stories, recollections of dreams, quotations, and his own responses to literature and art. The notebooks are largely undated and untitled. García Vega did number pages in many of the notebooks and often compiled indexes inside the front and back covers pointing to particular stories, poems, or fragments within the notebook. Where there is a distinct title written by García Vega it is indicated (See Notebook 11-16, 19, 27).
Physical Description6 boxes
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
The date and title on the front cover of the book "Appointments 1987" belie the content within; García Vega did not use the notebook to keep track of appointments, but rather to record his creative output. There are handwritten notes in the book that do not match García Vega's autograph; it appears that García Vega appropriated someone's former agenda for a personal notebook. The same is true of many of the notebooks in this collection.
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
Top of first page of notebook has the heading No mueras sin laberinto.
Physical Description1 folder
Contains quotations of authors and García Vega's reflections. Includes a detailed subject and author index at the back of the notebook. Numbered pages. Quoted authors include Julio Cortázar, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Carlos Fuentes, Pablo Neruda.
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
Heading on top of first page reads "Modernismo".
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
Consists of three pages with quotations of Clarice Lispector and Octavio Paz with García Vega's responses.
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
Consists of several drafts of letters dated 1994, including a letter to Octavio Paz soliciting Paz's contribution to García Vega's literary journal "Ujule" (See Series 2: Correspondence: Paz, Octavio for Paz's reply).
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
Includes a few pages of travel notes (Rome) and one section with the title "Apuntes sobre Orígenes". The notebook, a former agenda, includes another person's notes.
Physical Description1 folder
Includes drafts of letters to Guido Llinás (See Series 2: Correspondence: Llinás, Guido) and Ramón Alejandro. Several entries are written over a child's handwriting.
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
Includes another person's notes.
Physical Description1 folder
Arranged chronologically.
Consists of clippings of articles written by García Vega for the "Artes y Letras" section of "El Nuevo Herald" (Miami, Florida). Contents span a nine-year period. Subjects range from profiles of writers, artists, and intellectuals (for example, Juan Sánchez Peláez, Reína María Rodríguez, Alejandra Pizarnik, Salvador Dalí, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Jean Baudrillard) to book reviews of new publications.
Physical Description1 box
3 clippings: "Barthes: en defensa de El Santo"; "Centenario de un bardo con luenga cabellera"; "Juan Sánchez Peláez, el surrealismo y los perros"
Physical Description1 folder
13 clippings: "El árbol de Saussure"; "El 'trailer' de Labrador"; "Campoamor: surrealista 'avant la lettre'"; "Relato sobre un rey hermoso"; "Macedonio el heterodoxo"; "Salvador Garmendía: su barba y Galileo"; "Lino Novás Calvo en los traspatios"; "Collage con cálculo de Rolando"; Estación de un budista villaclareño"; "La araña que encontró un chileno"; "Mangos con esgrima adolescente"; "Westphalen, el jugador de las moradas"; "Muerte sin fin. Centenario de José Gorostiza".
Physical Description1 folder
11 clippings: "Dos notas desde la inmadurez"; "Un brujo le echaron a M. Teste"; "Panorámica de Mercedes Roffé"; "Igor donde el diablo dio las tres voces"; "Burdel Nirvana"; "Golpes a una imagen arcaica"; "'Eramos pocos y parió el espacio'"; "Las cartas del Lord Moro"; "Bicentenario de Alejandro Dumas"; "Felisberto Hernández en su centenario"; "'tsé-tsé', una revista experimental"
Physical Description1 folder
12 clippings: "Un deshuesamiento en el manglar"; "Soleida en el laberinto onírico"; "En el centenario de Anaís Nin"; "La Alejandra que dejó de ser la nena"; "¿Alicia en el país de La Pampa?"; "La ofuscada escritura de Marqués"; "La mujer que amaba la fealdad"; "Fantasmas con corte argentino"; "'El carrito de Eneas'"; "Damaris Calderón: con ventanilla y cosaco"; "El regreso de 'El Divino' Vargas Vila"; "Heredia con puzzle al fondo"
Physical Description1 folder
8 clippings: "Reina María: bajo cita de Gurdjieff"; "El que arrojaba uvas ardientes"; "¿Kundabúffer en Alamar?"; "Jaap Blonk, la rutina de innovar"; "Lina de Feria: Garfios para frases duras"; "El poeta de la boina ladeada"; "Centenario de un héroe que no despertó"; "El alquímico ABC de Ida Vitale"
Physical Description1 folder
7 clippings: "Dos textos de Liliana García Carril"; "Danzón con 'El Salon del Ciego'"; "Edgar Bayley con su Doctor Pi"; "'Kansas Lounge' o el delirio"; "Solares, la carencia y una casa amarilla"; "Silva nos entrega 'El libro del Haiku"; "'El libro de unos sonidos', antología de poetas peruanos"
Physical Description1 folder
10 clippings: "El 'Bosque Negro', un asomo de lo pesadillesco"; "Manuel José Othón: O la auténtica poesía"; "José Coronel Urtecho, y la vanguardia en Nicaragua"; "'La Linterna de Diógenes', con todas las sombriedades"; "De Norah Lange y el mundo de la niñez"; "Diarios de exploración de Lucía Bianco"; "Raúl Henao: El transgresor colombiano"; "Encuentros con Héctor Libertella"; "Saunders, el que mira por rendija absorta"; "Kozer, con un mito por explicar"
Physical Description1 folder
7 clippings: "Vicente Rojo: 'Volcanes construidos'"; "Carlos Enríquez (1900-1957): Lo díficil de un aniversario"; "La literatura como dolor de cabeza"; "Baudrillard: para volver el mundo más ininteligible"; "La muerte de un escritor saltimbanqui"; "La generación del 27 una generación de poetas"; "José Kozer, los poemas y las moscas"
Physical Description1 folder
3 clippings: "Juan Salzano con muletas y brujos"; "Francisco Garamona: Ópera flotante dentro de una copa de leche"; "Robbe-Grillet: O el compromiso con la araña"
Physical Description1 folder
This series contains personal correspondence received by García Vega.
Arranged alphabetically.
Physical Description1 box
Arranged alphabetically.
Consists of largest files of correspondence.
Physical Description1 box
2 TLSs, 1 ALS, 1 TMsS. Of note is Balista's written response to Los años de Orígenes in the form of an essay, sent to García Vega with a TLS dated 1980 February 25.
Physical Description1 folder
8 TLSs and one photocopy of an 1992 July 22 article written by Díaz Martinez with AN: "Cuba y la revolución" from "El Mundo" (Madrid, Spain).
Physical Description1 folder
1 ACS, 15 TLSs, 1 ALS.
Physical Description1 folder
8 TLSs, 1 ALS.
Physical Description1 folder
Arranged alphabetically.
Consists of 1-3 letters per correspondent.
Physical Description1 box
Correspondents include:
Batista, León Felix: 1 TLS.
Campos, Julieta: 2 TLSs.
Physical Description1 folder
Correspondents include:
Garmendia, Salvador: 1 ALS, 1 TLS.
Guillén, Jorge: 1 ALS.
Kozer, José: 1 TLS.
Lopez Ortega, Antonio: Undated fragment of letter sent to unknown recipient before being forwarded to García Vega. Accompanied by a handwritten note from a José (surname unknown) dated 28 January 1994.
Lerner, Elisa: 1 ALS.
Lozano, Alfredo: 1 ALS.
Libertella, Héctor: 2 undated ALsS.
Physical Description1 folder
Correspondents include:
Orphée, Elvira: 1 ALS.
Rojas, Gonzalo: 3 ALsS.
Sánchez Peláez, Juan: 1 TLS.
Singler, Christoph: 1 TLS.
Sologuren, Javier: 1 ALS.
Physical Description1 folder
Arranged chronologically.
Contains newspaper clippings about García Vega.
Physical Description1 box
Consists of 13 clippings of articles.
Physical Description1 folder
Copy of the literary magazine "Újule," a double issue, whose theme is "Homenaje a la literatura venezolana."
Physical Description1 folder