Renowned Chicana Author Sandra Cisneros Kicks Off Latino Heritage Month

On Sept. 11, Loker Student Union Ballroom C was filled to capacity as California State University, Dominguez Hills gave a warm welcome to internationally renowned Chicana writer Sandra Cisneros. Visiting the campus as part of the Second Annual Latino Heritage Month, the author of the critically acclaimed 1983 novel The House on Mango Street, shared her work, wit and hopes for a peaceful world with an audience of students, faculty, staff and community members, including students from Jordan High School in Long Beach.

Irene Vasquez, chair and professor of Chicana/o studies, introduced the author, highlighting the importance of Cisneros’ work for students and teachers of literature and cultural studies.

“Sandra Cisneros is an icon of American literature,” says Vasquez. “Students identify with her writing because she references social and cultural contexts that both Latino and non-Latino students share. In mainstream media and popular literature, many of our students do not read about their own families or cultural traditions. I find that students, after reading her works, are encouraged to share their own family stories, which is extremely empowering.”

Cisneros, whose books of poetry and prose have been translated into many languages, including Spanish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Japanese, Turkish, Greek, Thai, and Serbo-Croatian, was received by a multiethnic, multigenerational and multicultural audience. Dominguez Hills President Mildred García welcomed the author and many first-time visitors to the campus, proclaiming that, “You don’t find this diversity anywhere else but at Dominguez Hills. This is the institution of California.”

García expressed her enthusiasm for Cisneros’ work, saying that, “When I read The House on Mango Street, Sandra talked about how we are one, but so different within. I want to thank her for making such a sociological impact on what we are reading today.”

Gayle Elliott, professor of literature and creative writing in interdisciplinary studies and humanities says, “There is no small detail that is insignificant to her. She’s an impressive writer because she was impressed by life at a very early age. She pays attention to it and everything signifies. She thinks every single story is important and sacred, that’s why she is so responded to.”

Librería Martínez sold out of Cisneros’ books during the event. John Reza, proprietor of the independent bookstore in Lynwood, donated 10 percent of the evening’s sales to a scholarship fund established by Espiritu de Nuestro Futuro, a Dominguez Hills student organization committed to helping nonresident students with AB540 status.

Cisneros was also welcomed by George Arasimowicz, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, Rafael Martinez of the Dominguez Hills chapter of Phi Iota Alpha and Gayle Elliott, professor of literature and creative writing in interdisciplinary studies and humanities. Miguel Dominguez, chair and professor of foreign languages and Ivonne Heinze-Balcazar, assistant professor of foreign languages, recognized Cisneros with a certificate from the university. Music was provided during the opening reception by musician and film composer Marcos Loya, 1992 Independent Spirit Award nominee and lecturer, Chicana/o Studies.

Elliott, who has been a friend of Cisneros’ for 20 years, was proud of the collaboration of the university and its community in welcoming a writer of Cisneros’ magnitude.

“College is the culture of the university, and how it offers forms of intellectual and creative community as well as classroom community,” she notes. “So many students, faculty and staff members worked very selflessly on this event; it really showed our community at its best. Sandra said afterward that she felt very warmed and inspired by our campus community.”

Elliott is a writer-in-residence at the Macondo Workshop, a masters-level writer’s group founded by Cisneros in 1995. While no fee are required, participants must contribute by offering any skills or talents for the comfort of the other guests during the week-long workshop held in Cisneros’ home in San Antonio, Texas.

“Macondo started because Sandra wanted other writers to share the lonely work of being a writer,” says Elliott. “The Macondo ethic is based on activism in the community and generosity. Sandra exemplifies that; she never charges for her work and actually pays for people’s plane tickets or gives them a place to stay. It supports writers in every way, as well as emotionally. In it, she brings her attentive, kind eye to everyone she knows. She manages to see the best spark in everyone and encourages it to flourish and that’s a very rare gift. So many creative works and books have come into being because of her generous spirit.”

Cisneros, who removed her shoes at the podium, read from a letter she wrote to the writer Claire Joysmith in response to Joysmith’s request that she fill out a questionnaire on 9/11. Joysmith is the editor of One Wound for Another - Una Herida por Otra: Testimonios de Latin@s in the U.S. through Cyberspace. Cisneros also read an essay, “Un poquito de tu amor,” which will be printed in an anthology edited by Caroline Kennedy, and a chapter from her 2002 novel, Caramelo.

Before the signing, Cisneros indicated that she would dedicate books only to the elderly, prisoners and terminally ill in the interest of time. She also asked guests to turn off their cell phones and encouraged them to talk to the people in line behind them as they waited for her to sign their books.

She remarked on her appearance at Cal State Dominguez Hills falling on such a significant date in history and the parallel to her recent time at a Buddhist retreat conducted by Nobel Prize nominee Thich Nhat Hanh, author of Calming the Fearful Mind: A Zen Response to Terrorism.

“How do we make peace? We don’t hold up a sign,” she points out. “We make peace by being peaceful, every single day, every moment, with all the people we come in contact with. You make peace with your mother, your father, anyone that cuts you off in your lane, people who serve you and clean your table. Think of all the people you look at in one single day. Peace is contagious, just like anger. If you make yourself peaceful, they will be peaceful too.”

Los Angeles-based author Luis Rodriguez will speak and read from his works
on Thursday, Sept. 20, as part of Latino Heritage Month at Cal State Dominguez Hills. A reception at 6:30 p.m. will be followed by the reading at 7 p.m. Both will take place in the university’s Loker Student Union, Ballroom C. The event is open to the public.

Rodriguez is best known for his 1993 memoir, Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A., about his life in an East Los Angeles gang. His candid portrayal of gang life earned Rodriguez critical acclaim, including the Carl Sandburg Literary Award, a New York Times Notable Book designation, and a Chicago Sun-Times Book Award.

The Loker Student Union on the campus of CSU Dominguez Hills is located off Victoria Street near Tamcliff Street in the city of Carson. Metered parking lots are within walking distance. Permits are $3 and can be purchased at yellow kiosk machines on the perimeter of each lot.

For more information on this event or on Latino Heritage Month, call
(310) 243-3327.

- Joanie Harmon

Photos above: Many first-time visitors to the Dominguez Hills campus attended the literary event, as well as on-campus students and those from area high schools.

Pictured (L-R): Irene Vasquez, chair and professor of Chicana/o studies; Gayle Elliott, professor of interdisciplinary studies; Sandra Cisneros, author of The House on Mango Street and Caramelo; and Mildred García, president of Cal State Dominguez Hills. All photos by GK