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This document describes a Manuscript Collection held by the
Special Collections DepartmentBiographical and Historical Information
Scope and Contents of the Collection
Access and
Restrictions: This collection is open for research.
Pedro Lastra was born in Chile in 1932. Poet and essayist, Lastra graduated from the University of Chile. Between 1966 and 1973 he served as the literary advisor to the University Press in Chile, where he founded and directed the Letras de América collection. From 1972 until 1994, Lastra was a professor in the Department of Hispanic Languages and Literature at the State University of New York, Stony Brook, where he is now Professor Emeritus. In addition to being a corresponding member of the Academia Chilena de la Lengua, Lastra is also an honorary professor at the University of San Marcos (Lima, Peru) and the University of San Andrés (La Paz, Bolivia).
Some of his works of poetry include Traslado a la mañana (1959), Y éramos inmortales (1969, 1974), Cuarderno de la doble vida (1984), Diario de viaje y otros poemas (1998), Canción del pasjero (2001), and Palabras de amor (2002). Lastra has published many articles and he is also the author of several books: Conversaciones con Enrique Lihn (1980, 1990), Relecturas hispanoamericanas (1987), Invitación a la lectura (2001), and Leido y anotado: Letras chilenas e hispanoamercianas (2002).
The Pedro Lastra collection of Letters from South American Writers contains letters to Pedro Lastra written by many renowned contemporary Spanish-speaking literary figures. The collection dates from 1954 to 2002 and contains over 900 letters. All of the correspondence is in Spanish and arranged alphabetically by correspondent’s last name. Individual entries are arranged as follows: name (country) number of letters: years. Five authors are represented by sizeable quantities of letters: Carlos Germán Belli, Alberto Escobar, Oscar Hahn, Eugenio Montejo, and Gonzalo Rojas.
Acquired by the University of Iowa Libraries, 2006.
Guide posted
to Internet:
Box 1
Agosti, Héctor P. (Argentina) 10 plus 1 signed namecard: 1965-1970
Ainsa, Fernando (Uruguay) 1: 1980
Allende, Isabel (Chile) 1: 1983
Anderson Imbert, Enrique (Argentina) 4: 1960-1965
Ara, Guillermo (Argentina) 1: 1965
Asiain, Aurelio (Mexico) 1: 1997
Bartolomé, Efraín (Mexico) 1: 2001
Barrenechea, Ana Maríe (Argentine) 3: 1979-1983
Belli, Carlos Germán (Peru) 59 plus 2 signed namecards: 1967-1988
---- 46: 1989-2005
Benedetti, Mario (Uruguay) 7: 1963-1970
Bonnett, Pieded (Colombia) 6: 1997-2001
Bueno, Salvador (Cuba) 6: 1961-1968
Cano, José Luis (Spain) 1: 1978
Carballo, Emmanuel (Mexico) 3: 1966-1969
Cardenal, Ernesto (Nicaragua) 5: 1970-1975
Carnero, Guillermo (Spain) 2: 1990
Carpentier, Alejo (Cuba) 2: 1972-1973
Castanón, Adolfo (Mexico) 1: 1998
Castellet, José María (Spain) 1: 1973
Castillo, Abelardo (Argentine) 2: 1971-1972
Castillo Zapata, Rafael (Venezuela) 1: 1991
Cobo Borda, Juan Gustavo (Colombia) 1: 1983
Cornejo Polar, Jorge (Peru) 1: 1997
Cortázar, Julio (Argentina) 3: 1981-1982
Cuadra, Pablo Antonio (Nicaragua) 2: 1977-1997
Deustua, Raúl (Peru) 2: 1999
Devoto, Daniel (Argentina) 2: 2000-2001
Eielson, Jorge Eduardo (Peru) 1: 2000
Esacajadillo, Tomás G. (Peru) 3: 1977-1986
Escobar, Alberto (Peru) 64: 1965-1999
Fernández Retamer, Roberto (Cuba) 17: 1968-1999
Fabbiani Ruiz, José (Venezuela) 1: 1966
Ferrari, Américo (Peru) 13: 1981-2002
Flores, Angel (Puerto Rico) 5: 1979-1986
Flores Galindo, Alberto (Peru) 1: 1989
Fornet, Ambrosio (Cuba) 3: 1966-1991
Fuentes, Carlos (Mexico) 1: 1980
Gerbasi, Vicente (Venezuela) 2: 1980-1981
Gelman, Juan (Argentina) 3: 1976-1996
García Márquez, Gabriel (Colombia) 4: 1967
Goldemberg, Isaac (Peru) 1: 1985
Gonzalez Echevarría, Roberto (Cuba) 1: 1999
Grases, Pedro (Spain) 1: 1975
Box 2
Gullón, Ricardo (Spain) 27: 1975-1990
Gutiérrez Girardot, Rafael (Colombia) 5: 1971-1998
Hahn, Oscar (Chile) 69 plus 3 undated notes: 1965-1992
Harss, Luis (Argentine) 5: 1979-1981
Horanyi, Matins (Hungary) 1: 1981
Jesualdo [Sosa] (Uruguay) 2: 1954-1956
Jitrik, Noé (Argentina) 4: 1962-2000
Kamenszain, Tamara (Argentina) 2: 1975
Labrador Ruiz, Enrique (Cuba) 5: 1962-1980
Lafforgue, Jorge (Argentina) 1: 1967
Lentini, Javier (Spain) 1: 1992
Lezama Lima, José (Cuba) 1: 1969
Libertella, Héctor (Argentine) 11: 1975-1991
López Degregori, Carlos (Peru) 1: 1994
López Nieves, Luis (Puerto Rico) 2: 1989-1996
López Ortega, Antonio (Venezuela) 7: 1990-1996
Martínez Moreno, Carlos (Uruguay) 1: 1961
Martínez-Bonati, Félix (Chile) 7: 1975-2002
Mezzotti, José Antonio (Peru) 4: 1993-2002
Mendiola, Víctor Manuel (Mexico) 3: 1995-1997
Maturo, Graciela (Argentine) 2: 1999-2000
Mejía Sánchez, Ernesto (Nicaragua) 1: 1978
Mendoza, Plinio Apuleyo (Colombia) 1: 1985
Meneses, Porfirio (Peru) 1: 1966
Monguió, Luis (Spain) 2: 1984-1991
Monsivais, Carlos (Mexico) 1: 1981
Montejo, Eugenio (Venezula) 47: 1984-2001
Mutis, Alvaro (Colombia) 2: 1984-1988
Oquendo, Abelardo (Peru) 10: 1963-2002
Ortega, Julio (Peru) 8: 1969-1988
Oviedo , Jose Miguel (Peru) 12: 1967-1997
Pacheco, Cristina (Mexico) 2: 1979
Pacheco, José Emilio (Mexico) 18: 1968-1979
Palau de Nemes, Graciela (Puerto Rico) 1: 1977
Paoli, Roberto (Italy) 3: 1989-1996
Parra, Nicanor (Chile) 2: 1969-1975
Paz, Octavio (Mexico) 1: 1996
Phillips, Allen W. (USA) 2: 1967-1968
Box 3
Pineda Botero, Alvaro (Colombia) 21: 1986-1999
Portuondo, José Antonio (Cuba) 1: 1961
Quessep, Giovanni (Colombia) 5: 1998-2002
Quevedo, Alayda (and Edwin Madrid) (Ecuador) 2: 2002
Rama, Angel (Uruguay) 14: 1966-1983
Rael da Azúa, Carlos (Uruguay) 1: 1966
Ribayro, Julio Ramón (Peru) 5: 1967
Rivera, Francisco (Venezuela) 6: 1986-1996
Rivera Martinez, Edgardo (Peru) 1: 1997
Roa Bastos, Augusto (Paraguay) 19: 1961-1985
Rodríguez, Juliá Edgardo (Puerto Rico) 6: 1990-1994
Rodríguez Monagel, Emir (Uruguay) 5: 1966-1979
Rojas, Gonzalo (Chile) 56: 1961-1979
---- 34: 1980-1985
---- 33: 1986-1989
---- 29: 1990-2002
Box 4
Romero, Armando (Colombia) 4: 1985-1998
Romero, Elvio (Paraguay) 2: 1972
Ruffinelli, Jorge (Uruguay) 7: 1969-1981
Sábato, Ernesto (Argentina) 13: 1960-1972
Sábato, Matilde (Argentina) 3: 1969-1971
Salazar Bondy, Sebastián (Peru) 1: 1964
Sambrano Urdaneta, Oscar (Venezuela) 2: 1984
Sánchez Peláez, Juan (Venezuela) 1: 1997
Schulman, Ivan (USA) 3: 1994-1998
Schulman, Ivan (USA) 2: 1998
Silva-Santisteban, Ricardo (Peru) 1: 1998
Sobejano, Gonzalo (Spain) 1: 2001
Sologuren, Javier (Peru) 9: 1968-1993
Sucre, Guillermo (Venezuela) 5: 1985-1986
Suescún, Nicolás (Colombia) 1: 1969
Tauro, Alberto (Peru) 1: 1968
Traba, Marta (Argentina) 6 plus 2 signed notecards: 1966-1969
Trigueros de León, Ricardo (El Salvador) 3: 1961-1963
Urzagasti, Jesús (Bolivia) 2: 1997
Vargas Llosa, Mario (Peru) 7: 1969-1994
Vera, Pedro Jorge (Ecuador) 4: 1972-1983
Volkening, Ernesto A.C. (Colombia) 2: 1969
Westphalen, Emilio Adolfo (Peru) 1: 1970
Wiethüchter, Blanca (Bolivia) 1: 1999
Yurkievich, Saul (Argentina) 9: 1971-1985
Zeller, Ludwig (Chile) 1: 1994