Carmen Tafolla Papers

Biographical Sketch

Dr. Carmen Tafolla was born on July 29, 1951 in the West Side barrios of San Antonio, Texas. Growing up she excelled in San Antonio schools and went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish and French in 1972 and a Master of Arts degree in Education from Austin College in 1973. Tafolla served as the Director of the Mexican-American Studies Center at Texas Lutheran College from 1973 to 1975 and again from 1978 to 1979. In 1981, she completed her Doctor of Philosophy degree in Bilingual and Foreign Language Education at The University of Texas at Austin. She then embarked on a multi-faceted career, becoming an internationally known writer and educational consultant.

Tafolla has held faculty and administrative positions in universities throughout the Southwest, including Associate Professor of Women’s Studies at California State University Fresno and Special Assistant to the President for Cultural Diversity Programming at Northern Arizona University.

As one of the most highly anthologized of Latina writers, Tafolla’s work appears in more than two hundred anthologies, magazines, journals, readers, and textbooks. She has published five books of poetry, eight illustrated children’s books, seven television screenplays, one non-fiction volume, one collection of short stories, and she has co-authored one feature-length film. In addition to her writing, Tafolla has performed the one-woman theatrical show My Heart Speaks a Different Language throughout the world.

Her writing focuses on peace, justice, and human understanding which earned her the Art of Peace Award in 1999, among other awards throughout her career. Her community and institutional projects are characterized by innovation, valuation of diversity, and multicultural celebration.

Tafolla continues her work today and was recently named the first-ever Poet Laureate of San Antonio. She currently resides in San Antonio, Texas with her husband, Dr. Ernesto M. Bernal, her daughter, and her mother.

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Scope and Contents Note

The collection primarily consists of literary and academic manuscripts which reflect Tafolla's activities as a writer, speaker and educator. The collection also includes correspondence, biographical material, poems and poetry collections, short stories, criticism, social commentary, textbooks, school research papers, master's thesis, doctoral dissertation, plays and scripts, instructional materials, notes, and ephemera. Poetry, short stories, and plays often reflect life in the Mexican American barrio of San Antonio. Many of the instructional materials and academic papers relate to bilingual education and racial identity. Titles included in manuscript form are "Curandera" and "To split a human: mitos, machos, y la mujer chicana", and “Sonnets to Human Beings”. Scripts to KLRN television series Sonrisas are also present, including scripts by others edited by Tafolla. Some essays and poems were co-authored by husband Ernest M. Bernal. A book of poems by Reyes Cárdenas, "Anti-bicicleta haiku," and a script and poems by students are also part of the collection.

The collection is arranged into eight series: Personal and Biographical; Academic and Research Papers; Poetry and Prose; Non-fiction and Essays; Literary Criticism and Works by others; Plays and Scripts; Instructional Materials; and Speaking Engagements, Performances, and Readings.

The first series, Personal and Biographical, contains items detailing Carmen Tafolla’s personal life. These are divided into five subseries: Photographs, Vita, Personal Notes, Correspondence, and Press.

Series two, Academic and Reseach Papers, contains items created through Carmen Tafolla's work as a student. The files are arranged alphabetically by title and numerically by dissertation draft number, and there are also several bound notebooks. The series also has one item removed to oversize, containing Carmen Tafolla’s dissertation data printouts.

The third series, Poetry and Prose, contains Dr. Tafolla's poetry, short stories, and children’s work; it also contains multiple drafts of her published book Sonnets to Human Beings. Many of these items represent recurring themes throughout Chicana literature of the period.

Series four, Non-Fiction and Essays, consists of Dr. Tafolla’s non-fiction writing, including several copies of anthologies containing her essays. The files are all arranged alphabetically by title and contain papers, newsprint, and bound materials.

The fifth series, Literary Criticism and Work of Others, includes files arranged alphabetically. They do not include the full length productions by Carmen Tafolla herself, but rather a few essays she composed to critique other literary productions, as well as works by her students and other writers related to her life. The most notable part of the series is the work "Anti-bicicleta Haiku" by Reyes Cardenas.

Series six, Plays and Scripts, is divided into two subseries: Plays and Scripts by Title and Sonrisas. Sonrisas contains drafts and copies of scripts for Dr. Tafolla’s television series of the same name.

The seventh series, Instructional Materials, contains works written by Carmen Tafolla for use by instructors. These materials provide insight on Dr. Tafolla’s interactions with teachers of small children and her work as an educator.

Speaking Engagements, Performances, and Readings, the eighth series, is arranged chronologically. The items include fliers, programs, and feedback from Dr. Tafolla’s public events. It also contains notes for use in her performances.

The ninth series, Oversize Materials, consists of items that were moved from their original series because of size. It includes a poster from an exhibit called "La Familia" as well as newspapers with articles about and interviews with Tafolla.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

Unrestricted

Use Restrictions

Any use, reproduction, or distribution of the Carmen Tafolla papers is restricted under international copyright law. All rights are reserved by Carmen Tafolla. Contact information is available at the Benson library.

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Related Material

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Cite as: Carmen Tafolla Papers, Benson Latin American Collection, University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.

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Box and Folder Inventory

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