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Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

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Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

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October 4, 2022
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Ransom Center acquires Gabriel García Márquez’s archives

HRC_courtesy
Courtesy of the Harry Ransom Center

Annotated manuscripts, photographs and letters belonging to the late Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez have found a resting place at the Harry Ransom Center, the University announced this week.

At the age of 87, García Márquez, a Nobel laureate and author of “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” died in April, leaving behind more than 2,000 letters, more than 40 photograph albums, original book manuscripts and the drafts of his unpublished book, “We’ll See Each Other in August.” The center expects the archives to be catalogued and open to the public by fall 2015.

In December 2013, months before García Márquez’s death, representatives of his family contacted the Harry Ransom Center to propose an arrangement for the archives, said Steve Enniss, director of the Harry Ransom Center.


“I think the reason that we were approached before anyone else was is really due to the Ransom Center’s reputation as one of the finest cultural archives in the country,” Enniss said.

The family’s decision may have also been influenced by the center’s location, which, Enniss said, serves as a gateway to Central America.

According to Enniss, he and Jose Montelongo, the Mexican materials bibliographer for the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies Benson Latin American Studies and Collections, traveled to Mexico City, where García Márquez spent his final years, to review the archive materials. Montelongo said García Márquez’s work will interest researchers of various disciplines, but literary scholars will especially enjoy the writer’s manuscripts and drafts.

“You can see García Márquez editing himself,” Montelongo said. “This window into the work of the artist is of tremendous value for anyone interested in literary creation.”

Despite some controversy over the final location of the collection, Montelongo said the University’s high-ranking programs in Latin American studies made the Harry Ransom Center an appropriate home for García Márquez’s work.

“LLILAS is one of the best for the study of Latin America and the Benson Collection has been collecting Latin American materials for decades, so the interest in Latin America is nothing new,” Montelongo said.

According to a University statement, the LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections will support the Harry Ransom Center catalogue the archive and plan future events and exhibits.

Alicia Santana, Latin American studies senior, said she would like to see the archive’s manuscripts.

“I’m kind of a writer, too, so I would be interested in seeing that thought process from someone who’s so great at it,” Santana said.

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Ransom Center acquires Gabriel García Márquez’s archives