Contents and Arrangement Collection View
Description:

This series consists of manuscripts, notebooks, and clippings of published articles by García Vega.

Arranged by format.

Description:

This series contains personal correspondence received by García Vega.

Arranged alphabetically.

Description:

Contains newspaper clippings about García Vega.

Arranged chronologically.

Scope and Contents

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.

Arrangement

Arranged in three series: Writings, Correspondence, and Printed Material.

Collection Creator Biography:

García Vega, Lorenzo

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]

Acquisition:

Purchased from Lorenzo Garcia Vega in 2011 August (AM2012-19).

Appraisal

No materials were separated during 2011 processing.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Jill Baron in 2011. Finding aid written by Jill Baron in 2011.

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

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.

Credit this material:

Lorenzo García Vega Papers; Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/zk51vh518
Location:
Firestone Library
One Washington Road
Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
(609) 258-3184
Storage Note:
  • Firestone Library (scamss): Box 1-7
Bibliography

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.

Subject Terms:
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.
Genre Terms:
Correspondence
Manuscripts, Spanish.
Notebooks.
Names:
Orígenes (Association)
Llinás, Guido
Paz, Octavio, 1914-1998
Places:
Miami (Fla.) -- Intellectual life -- 1980-2008.