A Guide to the Sandra Cisneros Papers, 1954-2014 Collection 123 Descriptive Summary Creator: Sandra Cisneros Title: The Sandra Cisneros Papers Dates: 1954-2014 Abstract: The Sandra Cisneros Papers span 1954-2014 and are divided into twenty- seven series that document her entire life and literary career up until the archives acquisition in 2015. The bulk of the archive consists of Cisneros’ writings, correspondence, photographs, publicity, and letters from readers. Many other aspects of her career are represented through professional papers, publishing, awards, and organizational affiliations such as the Alfred Cisneros del Moral Foundation, the Macondo Foundation, and Los MacArturos. The 1997-1998 controversy over her purple house in San Antonio is also well documented. Identification: Collection 123 Extent: 305 boxes plus artifacts and framed items; (approx. 230 linear feet) Language: English, Spanish Repository: The Wittliff Collections, Texas State University 1 Administrative Information Access Restrictions Some letters have been separated into a “restricted” series. There will be no access to this material until 2067 unless the restriction is lifted before then. Additionally, access to computer files and some audio and video are on a case-by-case basis. Please contact the archives staff for information about access. Preferred Citation Sandra Cisneros Papers, The Wittliff Collections, Texas State University Acquisition Information Purchase, 2015 Processing Information Processed in 2017 by Katie Salzmann, with assistance from Elizabeth Moeller, Madelyn Patlan, Carol Alvarez, and Audrey Johnston 2 Sandra Cisneros Timeline 1954 Born December 20 in Chicago to upholsterer Alfredo Cisneros de Moral and Elvira Cordero Anguiano. She is the third of seven children, and their only daughter. The family lives at 4006 W. Gladys and then later on W. 63rd in Chicago. 1960- Attends Delano Elementary School and later Hefferon. Family moves to 2152 1966 W. Roosevelt Rd (3rd floor). Attends 2nd grade and part of 3rd grade at St. Mel- Holy Ghost, before transferring to Sr. Calistus until mid-6th grade. 1966 Family makes a down-payment on their own home at 1525 N. Campbell St. in Humboldt Park, a predominantly Puerto Rican neighborhood on Chicago's West Side. Attends St. Aloysius for 6th – 8th grades. 1968- Attends Josephinum Academy, a small Catholic all-girls high school where she 1972 writes poetry and is the editor for NOW, the school’s literary magazine. Graduates in 1972. 1976 BA from Loyola University (English): 1972-1976 where some early poetry is published in the literary journal Cadence. 1978 MFA from University of Iowa (Creative Writing): 1976-1978. Thesis is a collection of “Rodrigo Poems” later published as My Wicked, Wicked Ways. Begins writing The House on Mango Street. 1978- Returns to Chicago and continues working on Mango Street. 1978- Instructor of Spanish, English, Creative Writing at Latino Youth Alternative High 1980 School, Chicago, an alternative school for dropouts who return to finish their education. Also coordinates the school newspaper; compiles Un Veranzo, a journal of student writing, and writes grant proposals for the literary arts component of the school. Serves as Interim Director, March-September, 1980. 1979- Artist-in-Residence, Illinois Arts Council, Chicago. Teaches poetry workshops in 1982 schools throughout the state, from elementary to high school. 1980 Bad Boys is published (Mango Chicano Chapbook Series #8). 1981- Assistant to the Director, Educational Opportunities Program, Loyola University. 1982 Recruiter and counselor for the Educational Opportunity Program, a program for disadvantaged students. 1981 Receives the National Endowment of the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship in Poetry. 3 1982 Coordinates City Songs funded by the Chicago Council on the Fine Arts, 12-week community poetry workshop for adults. 1982 Associate Editor for Third Woman magazine, Indiana University, Bloomington. 1982 Spends the summer in Provincetown, Massachusetts with Dennis Mathis who is helping to edit The House on Mango Street. 1982 Fall, leaves for Greece where she lives in Hydra until November 30. Finishes The House on Mango Street. Travels through Italy to Paris. 1983 Writer in Residence at Foundation Michael Karolyi in Vence, France through Spring. Heads back to Greece but it waylaid in Yugoslavia. 1983 Returns to the States. Lives in Elburn as nanny to a niece. Works at Loyola University Chicago as an administrative assistant. 1984 The House on Mango Street is published (Arte Público Press). 1984 Moves to San Antonio. Lives in a garage apartment at 630 Mission Street. 1984- Literature director at Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, San Antonio. Coordinates 1985 monthly reading series with local and guest writers; teaches three creative writing workshops to children, teens, and adults; supervises a poetry-in-the-schools pilot program; interviews guest writers; wrote articles for the Center’s literary/arts journal, Tonzantzin; coordinates first annual Texas Small Press Book Fair. 1984 Receives an Illinois Artists Grant which allows her to finish her “Rodrigo Poems” which becomes My Wicked Wicked Ways. 1985 Creative Writing Instructor, Texas Lutheran College, Seguin, Texas [Spring]. Teaches a 3-week creative writing workshop during the winter-spring interim session. 1985 Awarded the Texas Institute of Letters Dobie-Paisano Fellowship. The fellowship is a residency and she invites Loyola friend, Ted Dvoracek and then Jose Antonio Aguirre as roommates. 1985 The House on Mango Street wins the Before Columbus Foundation’s American Book Award. 1985 Antojitos (Arte Público Press) is published. 1985 The Rodrigo Poems (Third Woman Press) is published. 1986 Receives first and third prizes for the Second Annual Chicano Short Story Award from the University of Arizona. 4 1986 Artist-in-the-Schools, San Antonio Independent School District. Teaches poetry to grades two through five. 1986 Receives the Chicano Short Story Award from the University of Arizona. 1986 Returns to Elburn, Illinois to work as a nanny. 1987 My Wicked Wicked Ways (Third Woman Press) is published. 1987 Returns to Austin. Boyfriend Rubén Guzman supports her for 8 months. 1987- Guest professor, California State University, Chico. Moves to Chico with Rubén. 1988 Teaches two semesters including “Creative Writing.” 1988 Susan Bergholz becomes her agent. 1988 Receives her second National Endowment of the Arts Fellowships for fiction and poetry. 1988 Guest professor as Roberta Holloway Lectureship at the University of California, Berkeley. Teaches “Advanced Fiction Writing,” and “Verse.” 1989 Second edition of House on Mango Street is published (Vintage Press). 1990 Guest professor at University of California, Irvine. Teaches “Chicana Writers,” and “Rediscovering the Short Story.” 1990 Guest professor at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Teaches “Gender and Literature / Ocho modo de sur / another way to be: Latina in the U.S.” and “Poor Excuses to Get Us Writing: a creative writing workshop.” 1991 Woman Hollering Creek (Random House) is published. 1991 Woman Hollering Creek is awarded the PEN Center West Award for Best Fiction of l99l, the Quality Paperback Book Club New Voices Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the Lannan Foundation Literary Award, and was selected as a noteworthy book of the year by The New York Times and The American Library Journal, and nominated Best Book of Fiction for l99l by The Los Angeles Times. 1991 Guest professor at University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. Leads creative writing workshop, “Poems Tossed Under the Bed.” 1993 Awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters from the State University of New York at Purchase. 1994 Loose Woman (Knopf) is published. 5 1994 Hairs / Pelitos (Knopf) is published. 1995 Recieves the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, and founds the Latino MacArthur Fellows - Los MacArturos, into a reunion focusing on community outreach. 1996 Purchases her first home, a Victorian house at 735 Guenther Street in San Antonio’s historic King William District. 1997- Becomes embroiled in a legal battle with the San Antonio Historic and Design Review 1998 Commission over her decision to paint her Guenther Street home purple. 1998 Founds the Macondo Foundation, an association of socially engaged writers that now makes its home at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center in San Antonio. 2000 Founds the Alfredo Cisneros Del Moral Foundation, a grant-giving institution serving Texas writers. 2002 Caramelo (Knopf) is published. 2002 Receives an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Loyola University, Chicago. 2003 Receives the Texas Medal of the Arts. 2004 Vintage Cisneros is published. 2005 Caramelo is awarded the Premio Napoli and is short-listed for the Dublin International IMPAC Award. It is also nominated for the Orange Prize in England. 2006 The Macondo Foundation is officially incorporated. 2011 Bravo Bruno! (La Nuova Frontiera) is published. 2012 Have You Seen Marie? (Random House) is published. 2015 A House of My Own: Stories from My Life (Knopf) is published. 2015 Moves to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. 2015 The Wittliff Collections at Texas State University acquires Sandra Cisneros’ archive. 2015 Receives Fifth Star Award presented by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. 2016 Receives the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama. 6 Scope and Contents The Sandra Cisneros Papers are divided into twenty-seven series and document her entire life and her literary career up until the archive acquisition in 2015. A description of each series begins on page 8. Below is an overview of the collection arrangement: Series Box(es) I. Personal Papers 1-4 II. Family Papers 5-11 III. Diaries 12-15 IV. Notebooks and Journals 16-28 V. Professional Papers 29-36 VI. Writings – Notes 37 VII. Writings – Nonfiction 38-41 VIII. Writings – Poetry 42-44 IX. Writings – Short Stories 45-46 X. Writings – Monographs The House on Mango Street 47-48 My Wicked Wicked Ways 49 Woman Hollering Creek 50-54 Loose Woman 55 Caramelo 56-73 A House of My Own 74-76 Storybooks 77-78 XI. Performance Binders 79 XII. Computer Files 80 XIII. Publications 81-85 XIV. Writings about Cisneros 86-89 XV.