Sandra Cisneros

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sandra Cisneros (born December 20, 1954 in Chicago) is an American author and poet best known for her novella The House on Mango Street. She is also the author of Caramelo, published by Knopf in 2002. Much of her writing is influenced by her Mexican-American heritage. She has also written Woman Hollering Creek, a book of short stories; My Wicked Wicked Ways, a poetry book, and Loose Woman, which is also a collection of poems. In 1994, she wrote a children's book, Hairs/Pelitos, with a Spanish translation by Liliana Valenzuela. Her novels, The House on Mango Street and Caramelo, have been translated to Spanish and both have won literary awards.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Early life

Cisneros was the third among seven children and is the only daughter. During childhood her family moved through a series of apartments in the poor neighborhoods of Chicago's south side. While she was a teenager, her family realized its dream of purchasing a house, although she considered it ugly and shabby. This event likely inspired much of The House on Mango Street. Her family frequently traveled between Mexico and the United States, inspiring elements of Caramelo. Her influences include her childhood, her family, and her Mexican-American heritage.

[edit] Philosophy

In a 1992 interview with Cisneros, she said: "A story is like a Giacometti sculpture; The further you get away from it, the clearer you can see it. Cisneros also says she chooses the ugliest topics she can find and writes about it, she does this to inform her readers about reality.

In 1976, Cisneros received a BA in English from Loyola University Chicago. She enrolled in the graduate program in creative writing at the University of Iowa Writer's Workshop and earned a master’s degree in creative writing in 1978. She received a National Endowment for the Arts grant in 1982. The grant allowed her to stay one year at Michael Karolyi Institute in Vence, France. Cisneros now works as the literature director of the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center in San Antonio, Texas.

Sandra Cisneros currently resides in San Antonio in the infamous "purple house" on Guenther Street where she writes and occasionally offers her time for Latino writer workshops with the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center and the Esperanza Center for Peace and Justice. She was awarded a MacArthur "Genius" grant for her writing in 1995. Her work is read in schools all over the US, from high schools to universities, thus, giving her the status of a canonical author.

Her influences include her childhood, her family, and her Mexican-American heritage.