The materials in this series document the personal and professional life of José Antonio Villarreal and his endeavors to publish his writings. The bulk of the series consists of Villarreal’s correspondence with editors at Doubleday & Company and literary agents at Paul R. Reynolds. Other literary agencies and publishers represented in this series include Curtis Brown, Ltd.; Harry Jacobsen; Scott Meredith Literary Agency; and Bilingual Press. Also included is correspondence with family, friends, colleagues, and students; literary correspondence related to permissions, personal appearances, and publication; correspondence with academic institutions where Villarreal sought employment, taught, or visited as a guest lecturer; and letters describing his views on Chicano literature and the Chicano Movement.

The correspondence is arranged alphabetically by sender’s last name or name of affiliated organization, with incoming and outgoing letters interfiled chronologically. Whenever possible, the correspondence is filed under the name of the institution with which the writer is affiliated, whether the letter is of a personal or professional nature. Partially identified and unidentified letters can be found at the end of the series.