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Gloria Anzaldúa Papers

University of Texas at Austin

Internationally recognized cultural theorist, creative writer, and independent scholar Gloria Evangelina Anzaldúa was born on September 26, 1942 in Raymondville, Texas. She worked in a wide variety of genres, including poetry, fiction, essays, interviews, anthologies, and children’s books. One of the first openly lesbian Chicana writers, Anzaldúa played a major role in redefining Chicana/o, queer, feminist, and female identities, and in developing inclusionary movements for social justice. Her theories of mestizaje, the borderlands, and the new mestiza, as well as her code-switching, have had an impact far beyond the field of Chicano/a studies. Her insistence on community and coalition-building united feminist concerns with issues of race, gender, class, sexuality, health, and spirituality. Anzaldúa also played a formative role in the development of queer theory.

The Gloria Anzaldúa Papers in the Benson Latin American Collection at the University of Texas at Austin include personal and biographical materials, correspondence, written works, research materials, photographs, audiovisual materials, and artifacts that document Anzaldúa’s life and career as a Chicana scholar, writer, teacher, and activist. The papers are arranged following as closely as possible Anzaldúa’s original organization, in nine series: Personal and Biographical, Correspondence, Written Works, Gigs and Teaching, Phone Logs, Calendars and Address Books, Photographs and Audiovisual Materials, Collected Materials, Oversized Materials and Artifacts, and the Gloria Anzaldúa Library. A complete list of volumes in Anzaldúa’s personal library is being developed and can be accessed by inquiring at the Benson Rare Books and Manuscripts Reading Room. Researchers should note that some materials are temporarily restricted at the request of the Anzaldúa Literary Trust.

Contact Information
Melissa Guy, Nettie Lee Benson Librarian and Director

University of Texas at Austin
Sid Richardson Hall
2300 Red River St
Austin, TX
United States
https://legacy.lib.utexas.edu/taro/utlac/00189/lac-00189.html
blac@lib.utexas.edu
512-495-4520

Region
North America

Year Established
2005