Sandra Cisneros was born in Chicago in 1954. Internationally acclaimed for her poetry and fiction, which has been translated into more than twenty-five languages, she is the recipient of numerous awards, including the National Medal of the Arts, the PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the MacArthur Foundation.
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Fishtrap’s NEA Big Read 2022
February and March 2022.
Join us as we celebrate The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros.
The House on Mango Street is recognized by critics, professors, and readers of all ages as one of most important contributions to modern literature. This landmark story collection relates the triumphant coming-of-age of young Esperanza Cordero who finds her own voice and inner potential to overcome the impediments of poverty, gender roles, and her Chicana-American heritage.
Teacher’s Guide & Reader’s Guide
Resources for Readers, Students and Families
Told in a series of vignettes stunning for their eloquence, The House on Mango Street is Sandra Cisneros’s greatly admired novel of a Latina girl growing up in Chicago. Acclaimed by critics, beloved by children, their parents and grandparents, taught everywhere from inner-city grade schools to universities across the country, and translated all over the world, it has entered the canon of coming-of-age classics.
Sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous, The House on Mango Street tells the story of Esperanza Cordero, whose neighborhood is one of harsh realities and harsh beauty. Esperanza doesn’t want to belong — not to her rundown neighborhood, and not to the low expectations the world has for her. Esperanza’s story is that of a young girl coming into her power, and inventing for herself what she will become.
The Big Read Schedule of Events
A Big Read Craft Talk with Eliot Treichel
Reading like a Writer: The House on Mango Street
Big Read Finale: A Film Series Inspired by The House on Mango Street
March 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Presented in partnership with the Wichita Public Library and Curated by mama.film
Our Neighborhood: Writing about Home
Saturday, February 19
Write stories from memories of your own neighborhood–appropriate for all ages. Hosted by Art Center East
The House on Mango Street Read Around
Tuesday, February 22 – 10am
EOU Library Reading Room
Participants will read aloud from or just listen to The House on Mango Street Hosted by Art Center East
The House on Mango Street Read Around
Tuesday, February 22 – 3pm
EOU Library Reading Room
The House on Mango Street Book discussion Hosted by Art Center East
The House on Mango Street Read Around
Tuesday, February 22 – 6pm
Art Center East
Participants will read aloud from or just listen to The House on Mango Street
Big Read Book Discussion
February 23
Book discussion live online on Fishtrap.org
Salsa Dance Lessons with Amelia Díaz Ettinger
February 23, 24, 25, 26
Online at ArtCenterEast.org and Fishtrap.org
Writing Workshop: Ephemeral Moments that Endure
Wednesdays, March 9, 16, 23, 30
An Online Micro Essay Workshop with E.M. (Lizzie) Sloan
About The NEA Big Read
The Big Read broadens our understanding of the world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book. Every winter, Fishtrap celebrates one great work of literature by providing events, discussions, and books to Wallowa County schools, libraries, and community members. The program is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts and is supported locally by neighborhood businesses and individual donations. NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.