Identity elements
Name and location of repository
Beschrijvingsniveau
Collectie
Titel
David Unger papers
Datum(s)
- circa 1960s-2023 (Vervaardig)
Omvang
6.50 linear feet (11 document cases, 1 flat archival box)
Naam van de archiefvormer
Biografie
David Unger (1950-) is a NYC-based writer and translator from Guatemala. In 2014, he received the Miguel Angel Asturias National Literature Prize for lifetime achievement from Guatemala. He authored the novels The Price of Escape; Para Mi, Eres Divina; Ni chicha, ni limonada; and Life in the Damn Tropics, which have been translated in multiple languages. For example, his 2016 novel called The Mastermind was translated in Italian, Turkish, Polish, and Arabic.
In addition to novels, he wrote many short stories featured in literary journals and anthologies in the United States and other countries. His stories were also published in magazines, such as Playboy Mexico, Guernica Magazine, and The Paris Review. In 2020, Unger published a children’s book entitled Sleeping with the Light On in homage to his parents, who had emigrated with him in 1955 – a year after a coup d’état overthrew Guatemala’s president Jacobo Arbenz. The book narrates how Luis and Fortuna protected young David from the harsh days of political turmoil and migration, envisioning how children could find a safe space in their families during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unger has developed a vast oeuvre as a translator for other work, such as those of Teresa Cárdenas, Rigoberta Menchú, Ana Maria Machado, Silvia Molina Elena Garro, Bárbara Jacobs, Nicanor Parra, and even the Popol Vuh, a mythological creation account from pre-Columbian Guatemala.
Unger currently teaches translation in the MFA Program of The City College of New York CUNY and lives in Brooklyn.
–Vanessa Rodrigues Barcelos da Silva
Graduate Student Assistant for Manuscripts and Archives Management, Summer 2024
Content and structure elements
Bereik en inhoud
This collection contains manuscripts, drafts, notes, poems, short stories, translations, and unpublished works by the award-winning Guatemalan author and translator, David Unger (1950-). Also featured within the collection are his correspondence (both personal and work-related), photographs, his education files from elementary school to university, book contracts, book reviews, article clippings, and artwork and prints by the artist, Walter Mosley.
Ordeningstelsel
Conditions of access and use elements
Voorwaarden voor raadpleging
This collection is unprocessed but open for research.
Physical access
This collection is kept in an off-campus storage facility. Please contact Special Collections at asc.library@miami.edu with the boxes you are interested in prior to your visit, and allow up to 1 week for delivery of materials.
Technical access
Voorwaarden voor reproductie
Requests to reproduce or publish materials from this collection should be directed to asc.library@miami.edu.
Languages of the material
- Chinees
- Engels
- Spaans
Scripts of the material
- Han
- Latijn
Taal en schrift aantekeningen
Toegangen
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Geschiedenis beheer
Directe bron van verwerving
Gift of David Unger, 05-13-24.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Aanvullingen
Related materials elements
Bestaan en verblifplaats van originelen
Bestaan en verblijfplaats van kopieën
Related archival materials
Books that arrived with the collection were separated out to be added into the online catalog: https://www.library.miami.edu/specialcollections/index.html.
Related descriptions
Notes element
Specialized notes
Alternative identifier(s)
Description control element
Regels of conventies
Sources used
Aantekeningen van de archivaris
Finding aid created by Yvette Yurubi, Processing Archivist, 06-12-24.