Series 1: Writings, 1959-2011
A prolific writer, this series presents the breadth of Vicente Leñero's creative output. Novels, short stories, plays, screenplays and essays are all genres that Leñero has produced prodigiously in from the middle of the 1950s through the 2000s. The majority of materials, besides the notebooks, consist of typed manuscripts, many of which have autograph corrections.
This series is arranged into seven subseries: Notebooks, Novels, Short Stories, Theater, Film, Television, Essays, and Miscellaneous.
Subseries 1A: Notebooks, 1984-2011
"Archivo Vicente Leñero", 2012
Notebook 5: "Muestra Nacional de Teatro en Monterrey. Varios", 1986 September 20-1987 October
Notebook 15: "Viaje a España. Proyecto de guión de cine: Rojo sangre", 1992 October-November
Notebook 25: "Argumento guión de cine: Puras mentiras. Texto Los volcanes", 1992 April-June
Notebook 28: "Textos sobre Vivir del teatro. Ensayo sobre teatro", 1992 December-1993 January
Notebook 42: "Guión de cine (fragmento): El siglo de Alicia (no filmado)", 1996 January-March
Notebook 51: "Guión de cine: El Malboro y el Cucú que luego se llamó: Fuera del cielo", 2000
Notebook 80: "Cuentos. Notas", 2006
Notebook 87: "Guión de cine Con la muerte en los puños. (Primera parte)", 2005 February-May
Notebook 91, undated
Notebook 92: "Columnas literarias para Revista Vuelo y Revista UNAM", 2007 August-2008 February
Notebook 96: "Minicuentos de la sección Lo que sea de cada quien. Revista UNAM", 2009 April-August
Los albañiles (2/2): 150-300, 1962
Los albañiles, undated
Nadie tiene la culpa, 1956-1957
"Cuentos", 1956-1957
Puros cuentos (1/2), 1959-1985
Puros cuentos (1/2), 1959-1985
Estudio Q (2/2): 119-247, 1963-1964
Estudio Q: Fragments, 1963-1964
La voz adolorida, undated
"Cuentos" from Gente así (1/2), 2000
"Cuentos" from Gente así (2/2), 2000
"Cuentos y crónicas", 1970s
El garabato (2/2): 102-206, 1966
Zona rosa, 1971-1972
Asesinato, 1980-1984
La gota de agua (2/2): 106-211, 1982
"La situación", 1982
Subseries 1C: Theater, 1969-2004
Nadie sabe nada: TMs, 1987
Señora: TMs with corrections, 1986
El infierno: TMs, 1987
Subseries 1D: Film, 1971-2009
Las batallas en el desierto, 1986
El callejón de los milagros, 1988
Los de abajo, 1976
Los de abajo, circa 1978
La tía Alejandra, 1978
Los indocumentados, undated
Una muerte en el squash, 1994
Amapola, 2002-
Amapola (1/7), 2002 April
Amapola (2/7), 2003 July
Amapola (3/7), 2003 October
Amapola (4/7), 2004 February
Amapola (5/7), 2004 October
Amapola (6/7), 2004 October
Amapola (7/7), 2009 February
Subseries 1F: Essays, 1976-2000
Los pasos de Jorge, circa 1989
Excelsior materials, 1976-1977
Vivir del teatro, 1988
Talacha periodística, 1983
Columns published in Vuelo, 2000
This series consists of correspondence from friends and professional associates. Some correspondence was grouped by subject, and this order has been retained. For correspondence related to Leñero's earlier writings (between the years 1960-1967) please refer also to the appropriate subject files in Series 3.
This series is arranged into two subseries: By Individual, and By Subject.
Achával, Horacio, 1967 January-May
Albada Jelgersma, Jill, 1985-1987
Alexander, Brígida, 1979-1987
Anderson, Daniel J, 1986-1991
Brushwood, John, 1983-1984
Diálogos (Ramón Xirau), 1965 July 26
Domenech, Ricardo, 1968-1969
Editorial Seix Barral, 1963-1966
Lewis, Oscar, 1966 November 20
Maza, Enrique, undated, 1993
Nigro, Kirsten, 1984-1992
Pacheco, José Emilio, 1978-1985
Tavira, Luis de, 1990 December 31
Usigli, Rodolfo, 1969-1972
Valadés, Edmundo, 1963-1966
General A-C, 1970-1999
General J-O, 1968-1994
General P-T, 1970-1994
Los albañiles, 1963
Estudio Q, 1965
Los hijos de Sánchez, 1970-1985
Professional/Editorial, 1965-1966
The subject files in this series consist of printed material, clippings, correspondence, and in some cases manuscript pages related to Leñero's earliest writings, including La polvareda, y otros cuentos; Los albañiles; El garabato.
Arranged by subject and genre of material.
La polvareda y otros cuentos, 1959
Clippings, 1962-1967
Ephemera, undated
- Scope and Contents
The Vicente Leñero Papers represents Leñero's work as a playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and essayist from the late 1950s to the present day. The majority of materials consist of typed and autograph manuscripts of novels, plays, screenplays, television scripts and essays. The notebooks provide access to the earlier stages of some of Leñero's published or performed works, and feature poems, drawings, ephemera and personal notes as well. Leñero provided an inventory list detailing the contents of the collection. This inventory was critical to identifying and describing materials, and has been included [Box 1, Folder 1].
In addition to the manuscripts there is a sizeable amount of correspondence from friends and professional associates, including letters from José Emilio Pacheco and Subcomandante Marcos of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), and printed material highlighting Leñero's early days as a writer.
- Arrangement
Organized into the following series and subseries:
- Collection Creator Biography:
Leñero, Vicente
Vicente Leñero was born on June 9, 1933, in Guadalajara, Mexico, though his family returned to Mexico City shortly after his birth. Leñero earned a degree as a civil engineer from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and later studied journalism. He married his wife Estela in 1959 and they had four daughters. In his essay "Vivir del cuento" Leñero describes the obsessive approach he took to writing when he was just starting out, when he wrote "without knowing, without thinking," banging away at his brother's Remington typewriter. He published his first collection of short stories, La polvareda, y otras cuentos in 1959, winning first prize in the Concurso Nacional del Cuento Universitario for the collection's eponymous story. Four years later, in 1963, Leñero was awarded the Premio Biblioteca Breve for his novel, Los albañiles, which he later adapted for the stage.
In subsequent decades Leñero has produced a critically acclaimed and expansive body of work, including novels, plays, screenplays, television scripts and essays. Although he evolved independent of any specific literary circle or milieu, as co-founder of the magazine Proceso, Leñero's place as a leading intellectual in Mexico is undisputed. Considered a champion of documentary theater and fiction based in real-life events, Leñero has defied easy categorization as a writer, though among his many achievements Leñero is considered one of Mexico's most important playwrights of the twentieth century. In later years Leñero has written prodigiously for Mexican cinema, and his credits include: La ley de Herodes (1999); El crímen del Padre Amaro (2003); Fuera del cielo (2006); Desde dentro (2012).
Sources:
Leñero, Vicente. De cuerpo entero. Mexico City: UNAM, 1992.
Day, Stuart A. "Vicente Leñero." Latin American Dramatists: First Series. Ed. Adam Versaenyi. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 305. Detroit: Gale, 2005. From Literature Resource Center.
- Acquisition:
Purchased from Vicente Leñero in April 2012 .
- Appraisal
No appraisal information is available.
- Processing Information
This collection was processed by Jill Baron in July 2012. Finding aid written by Jill Baron in July 2012 with the assistance of James Clark '15.
- 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:
Vicente Leñero Papers; Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library
- Permanent URL:
- http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/79407x92r
- Location:
-
Firestone LibraryOne Washington RoadPrinceton, NJ 08544, USA
- Storage Note:
- Firestone Library (scamss): Box 1-30