Cisneros previews literary archive, exhibition at Wittliff Collections

Posted by Jayme Blaschke
Office of Media Relations
October 7, 2016

Internationally acclaimed author Sandra Cisneros gave students and faculty a preview of her literary archive at the Wittliff Collections at Texas State University October 6.

The Wittliff Collections hosted the reception for Cisneros.

In addition to providing attendees with a sneak peek at treasures from her archive before they formally open for research in spring 2017, Cisneros also gave a reading and participated in a discussion of her work.  

As one of America’s leading writers, Cisneros helped launch the Latino literary boom and is the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” Grant. She is the author of poetry, a memoir, essays, children’s books and fiction, including The House on Mango Street, which has sold more than 6 million copies and inspired generations of readers worldwide.

The Sandra Cisneros Papers comprise 250 file boxes documenting the entirety of her literary career. Included are manuscripts for all of her major works, personal diaries, travel journals, correspondence, photographs, videos, awards, publicity material, personal effects, interviews and speeches, original drawings by Cisneros, files on her famous “Purple House” in San Antonio, and the Canon portable typewriter she used to create many of her works. Also present is the original artwork used for the first edition of The House on Mango Street. The Wittliff Collections acquired the archive in 2015.

The Wittliff Collections, located on the top floor of the Albert B. Alkek Library at Texas State, was founded in 1986 by Drs. Bill and Sally Wittliff to collect, preserve and celebrate the literary and photographic arts of Texas, the Southwest and Mexico. Among the major holdings at the Wittliff are literary papers of Cormac McCarthy, Larry McMurtry and Sam Shepard. The Wittliff also has one of the largest collections of Mexican documentary and fine art photography in the United States.

For more information and news updates on the Sandra Cisneros Papers, follow the Wittliff Collections on Facebook.

For more information on Sandra Cisneros, visit her website at www.sandracisneros.com.