Sandra Cisneros (December 20, 1954)

“We didn’t always live on Mango Street.
Before that we lived on Loomis on the third floor,
and before that we lived on Keeler.
Before Keeler it was Paulina,
and before that I can’t remember.
But what I rememeber most is moving a lot.
Each time it seemed there’d be one more of us.
By the time we got to Mango Street we were six—
Mama, Papa, Carlos, Kiki, my sister Nenny and me.”

-Excerpt from The House on Mango Street

Cisneros was born in Chicago, and grew up as the only daughter in a family of six brothers. With the constant migration of her family between Mexico and the U.S., Cisneros’ early prose dealt strongly with her juggling of both cultures. She attended an all-girl catholic high school, Josephinum Academy and received her bachelor’s in English from Loyola University in 1976; later, she received her master’s in creative writing from the University of Iowa. As a young woman, she dealt with isolation, but focused on her cultural environment for inspiration in writing.

Cisneros’ most popular novel, The House on Mango Street (1984), is a coming-of-age story about life in Chicago, told from the point-of-view of a twelve year old child named Esperanza. She got her inspiration from her Chicago neighborhood, Humboldt Park. The book has been taught in many American schools and received the American Book Award in 1985 and the McDaniel Fellowship Award.

Cisneros went on to publish a short story collection Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories (1991), My Wicked Ways (1987), and Loose Woman (1994). She is also the president and founder of the Macondo Foundation, for socially engaged writers working to advance creativity and is also Writer-in-Residence at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio.

By Mary Adekale

Mary is a sophomore majoring in English with a concentration in creative writing.