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Sandra Cisneros’ novels, Essays, poetry, and social work have made her a key figure in feminist and Chicana literature. Her debut novel, The House on Mango Street (1984), is required reading in schools across the country and was one of the first works by a Chicana author to receive widespread acclaim.
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Jetzt kostenlos anmeldenSandra Cisneros’ novels, Essays, poetry, and social work have made her a key figure in feminist and Chicana literature. Her debut novel, The House on Mango Street (1984), is required reading in schools across the country and was one of the first works by a Chicana author to receive widespread acclaim.
Sandra Cisneros' life experiences as a Chicana woman have greatly influenced her work as a writer.
Sandra Cisneros was born in Chicago on December 20, 1954. Her father, Alfredo Cisneros de Moral, was a Mexican man who came to the United States in his youth and eventually settled into a career as an upholsterer. Cisneros’ mother, Elvira Cordero Anguiano, was Mexican-American and the only female role model for her young daughter.
Sandra Cisneros was born in Chicago. Pixabay.Cisneros grew up in a large family; she was the third of seven children and the only daughter. Surrounded by brothers, Cisneros often felt isolated. Her family moved back and forth throughout her childhood between the United States and Mexico, further contributing to her feelings of isolation and uprootedness. From an early age, Cisneros combated this isolation by taking refuge in books.
When Cisneros was eleven years old, her family finally purchased their own home in Chicago, in the predominantly Puerto Rican neighborhood of Humboldt Park, and Cisneros attended high school at the nearby Josephinum Academy.
The family’s Humboldt Park home would later become the inspiration for Cisneros’ first novel, The House on Mango Street (1984).
Josephinum Academy was an all-girls Catholic school, and this was where Cisneros began to write. One of her teachers was particularly supportive and encouraged Cisneros’ early attempts at poetry.
After high school, Cisneros attended Loyola University in Chicago and later earned an MFA in creative writing from the University of Iowa’s Writers’ Workshop.
During her time in the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Cisneros began to discover her own unique voice as a writer. As a Chicana woman who had grown up in poverty, Cisneros’ life experiences were much different from those of her generally more affluent classmates. For a long time, Cisneros had been ashamed of these differences, but she realized that she could use the experiences related to her class, race, and gender to explore topics that were too often marginalized.
In 1978, Cisneros graduated from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop and began to work as a teacher. Back in Chicago, Cisneros taught at the Latino Youth Alternative High School, a charter school for high school drop-outs, and continued writing on the side.
In 1981, Cisneros was awarded a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. She used the money to go to Europe, where she completed the manuscript for her first novel, The House on Mango Street.
The House on Mango Street was published in 1984. The novel, which drew on Cisneros’ childhood in Chicago, was immediately successful. The House on Mango Street became an instant classic of Chicana literature and continues to be read in middle schools, high schools, and universities across the country.
In 1987, Cisneros’ first collection of poetry was published, My Wicked, Wicked Ways. Despite the success of her budding literary career, Cisneros still struggled to make ends meet. She continued to work as a teacher and arts administrator until she was awarded a second National Endowment for the Arts fellowship. This fellowship allowed Cisneros to complete the short story collection Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories (1991).
Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories was published by Random House, making Cisneros the first Chicana writer to be picked up by a major publishing house. This helped bring her work into the mainstream and resulted in more national recognition.
In 1995, Cisneros was awarded the prestigious MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, which enabled her to make writing her full-time occupation.
After winning the MacArthur Fellowship, Cisneros realized a lifelong dream of living in her own home. The author purchased a house in a historic part of San Antonio, Texas, but she sparked local controversy when she painted the house purple! The city’s Historic and Design Review Commission felt that the color was not historically appropriate. In contrast, Cisneros argued the opposite, adding that the color symbolized her Mexican pride. The community was split over the disagreement, but so many people had an opinion on the matter that Cisneros eventually attached a clipboard to her gate for passersby to leave comments.
That same year, Cisneros founded the Macondo Writers Workshop, an association of writers who prioritize social responsibility and activism in their work. The Macondo Foundation hosts an annual event and awards and grants to applicable writers.
In 1999, Cisneros furthered her community outreach activities by starting the Alfredo Cisneros del Moral Foundation. The foundation, named for her father, supports the work of writers from, living in, or writing about Texas.
Sandra Cisneros lives in San Miguel de Allende. Pixabay.Sandra Cisneros continues to write. She is a citizen of the United States and Mexico, and she lives in San Miguel de Allende, in central Mexico.
Sandra Cisneros is well-known for her books, poems, and Essays.
Like her novels, Cisneros’ poetry navigates themes including Chicana identity, sexuality and femininity, and the lives of working-class women. The poetry collection My Wicked, Wicked Ways (1987) was Cisneros’ second published work. Her other full-length poetry collection is called Loose Woman: Poems (1994). Cisneros also has a poetry chapbook titled Bad Boys (1980).
There are many reoccurring themes in Sandra Cisneros’ work, including the construction of Chicana identity, bilingualism and biculturalism, and femininity and female sexuality.
When you leave you must remember to come back for the others. A circle, understand? You will always be Esperanza. You will always be Mango Street. You can’t erase what you know. You can’t forget who you are. -The House on Mango Street (The Three Sisters)
Chicana characters feature prominently in nearly all of Sandra Cisneros’ work. Her protagonists, for example, Esperanza, from The House on Mango Street, are reflections of Cisneros’ own experiences as a Chicana woman and the experiences of the women around her: her friends, family, and neighbors. Much of her work explores the expectations that both Mexican and American culture place on women and how Chicana identity is constructed in relation to these gender roles.
Make love to me in Spanish.
Not with that other tongue.
I want you juntito a mí,
tender like the language
crooned to babies.
I want to be that
lullabied, mi bien
querido, that loved.
-Loose Woman (“Dulzura”)
Much of Sandra Cisneros work explores the borderlands of biculturalism and bilingualism. Growing up and traveling between Mexico and the United States, Cisneros often felt that she didn’t belong in either culture. Biculturalism is an essential part of Chicana identity, and Cisneros often explores how Mexican and American cultures combine and collide in her characters.
An important part of this is the use of the Spanish language in her work. Cisneros incorporates Spanish into her poems and novels, but she also plays with the relationship between the two languages, to create something new. For example, she uses Spanish sayings translated into English or phrasing or sentence structures that might be common to Spanish but unusual in English.
I’ll never marry. Not any man. I’ve known men too intimately. I’ve witnessed their infidelities, and I’ve helped them to it. Unzipped and unhooked and agreed to clandestine maneuvers. I’ve been accomplice, committed premeditated crimes. I’m guilty of having caused deliberate pain to other women. I’m vindictive and cruel, and I’m capable of anything. -Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories (“Never Marry a Mexican”)
Sexuality and femininity play an important role in Cisneros’ exploration of Chicana identity. Nearly all of Cisneros’ work centers around female characters who exist in a world where men define femininity and female sexuality. She explores how Chicana women navigate the expectations of traditional gender roles, how they break free from them and take charge of their own sexuality, or how they become disillusioned and broken down by the limits of a patriarchal society.
Sandra Cisneros is interested in art, culture, and literature. She remains an avid reader and has established two different foundations to support aspiring writers.
Sandra Cisneros is a Chicana author known for her novels, short stories, and poetry.
Sandra Cisneros was born in Chicago. Her family traveled back and forth between Mexico and the United States for much of her childhood, but when she turned 11, they purchased a house in the Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago.
Sandra Cisneros was a shy, quiet child who often felt isolated in her large family. She was the only daughter out of seven children, and her family frequently traveled between the United States and Mexico. From an early age, Cisneros took refuge in books, and, once she began high school, a teacher encouraged her to write.
Sandra Cisneros has written twelve books, including novels, collections of short stories, poetry, and essays, and a few children’s books.
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SIGNUP SIGNUPFlashcards in Sandra Cisneros30
Start learningWhere was Sandra Cisneros born?
Chicago, Illinois
What university did Sandra Cisneros attend for her graduate studies?
The University of Iowa
Which is NOT an important theme in Sandra Cisneros’ work?
Mortality
How many brothers did Sandra Cisneros have?
Six
In which Chicago neighborhood did Sandra Cisneros’ family live?
Humboldt Park
Where does Sandra Cisneros live currently?
San Miguel de Allende, in central Mexico.
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