News & Events

Poet and Novelist Sandra Cisneros to Speak March 2

February 15, 2012

Celebrated novelist and poet Sandra Cisneros takes the stage in Asheville on Friday, March 2, at 7 p.m., at UNC Asheville’s Lipinsky Auditorium. An Evening with Sandra Cisneros is free and open to the public and will include a book-signing and reception.

As the winner of numerous literary awards, Cisneros is best known for her highly acclaimed coming-of-age novel “House on Mango Street,” which has sold more than two million copies worldwide and is required reading in middle schools, high schools, and universities across the country.

Her other works include the multi-award-winning short-story collection, “Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories”; “Caramelo,” a novel selected for numerous One-City/One-Read projects across the country; “Hairs/Pelitos,” named Best Children’s Book of the Year by Parenting Magazine; and her spirited collection of poems, “Loose Woman,” which the Boston Globe described as “poignant, sexy....lyrical, passionate...cool and delicate...hot as a chili pepper.” Cisneros’ work has been translated in more than a dozen languages.

The only daughter of seven children in a Mexican-American family living in a Puerto Rican neighborhood in Chicago, Cisneros says she was expected to “do only chores and not study.” Instead she went on to achieve an undergraduate degree in English from Loyola University and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Iowa. She has also been awarded numerous honorary doctorate degrees.

The event is co-sponsored by Lenoir-Rhyne University and UNC Asheville’s Office of Cultural Events and Special Academic Programs. For more information on An Evening with Sandra Cisneros, contact UNC Asheville's Office of Cultural Events and Special Academic Programs at 828.251.6674.