Poetry Corner hosts Cisneros

Sandra Cisneros will perform at The Poetry Corner Presents at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 12, at the Cortez Public Library, 202 N. Park St.

Cisneros is best known for her first novel, “The House on Mango Street,” but also has a list of many more publications to her name. She is an accomplished poet, teacher and activist for peace and cross-cultural understanding.

A key figure in Chicana literature, Cisneros was born in Chicago, the only daughter in a family of seven children who grew up both in Chicago and Mexico. She received her bachelor’s degree in English from Loyola University of Chicago and a master of fine arts degree from the University of Iowa.

Her books of poetry include “Loose Woman” (Knopf, 1994), “My Wicked, Wicked Ways” (1987), “The Rodrigo Poems” (1985) and “Bad Boys” (1980). She wrote “Caramelo” (2003); “Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories” (1991), which won the Quality Paperback Book Club New Voices Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, and the Lannan Foundation Literary Award; and “The House on Mango Street” (1984), which won the American Book Award in 1985; and a bilingual children’s book, “Hairs: Pelitos” (1994).

Her articles and reviews have appeared in publications including Glamour, The New York Times and Revista Chicano-Riquena. Among her honors are fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the MacArthur Foundation. She has taught at the Universities of California, Michigan and New Mexico. She has been a counselor, college recruiter, poet-in-the-schools and arts administrator.

Cisneros has a strong commitment to community and literary causes. In 1998 she established the Macondo Foundation, which provides socially conscious workshops for writers. In 2000 she founded the Alfredo Cisneros Del Moral Foundation, which awards talented writers connected to Texas.

Her upbringing, her life experiences and her deep feelings about “always straddling two countries ... but not belonging to either culture” all influence Cisneros’ writings. She uses images, metaphors, rhythm, sounds and scents to tell her unique stories that astound and, at the same time, are so familiar. She is insightful and powerful, and weaves her poetry with humor, honesty, joy and tragedy. She has achieved recognition far beyond the Chicano and Latino communities, to the extent that “The House on Mango Street” has been translated worldwide and is taught in American classrooms as a coming-of-age novel.

Look for her new collection of fiction, “Infinito,” a children’s book, “Bravo, Bruno” and a book about “Writing in my Pajamas.”

Cisneros will sign books after the reading. Books will be provided by Maria’s Bookshop, autographs by Cisneros.

For more information, call 565-8117 or come to the library.