I wasn't able to get to an author reading for this month's feature, so I decided to report on one of my favorite writers: Sandra Cisneros. I did have the pleasure of seeing her interviewed at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco many years ago. What stands out in my mind from that event is not anything she said or read, but how she demonstrated a myriad of ways to wear a Mexican shawl she had draped over her shoulders.
On her website Cisneros says, "The process of writing is like making a garment, and I often find myself making buttons long before I know what the dress they go on will look like."
Cisneros's work includes eight books: poems, short stories and novels. I 'discovered' House on Mango Street in my college bookstore when I was 17 years old (over two decades ago). Last week I revisited Woman Hollering Creek from my bathtub. Her poetry and lyrical prose is lovely to read aloud, the way the words roll off your tongue.
The following video was made by a student from her visit to Seward school in Chicago in 1992. I think it speaks for itself. Look forward to her upcoming book on writing titled Writing in My Pajamas!
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