Register for the event here.

Sandra Cisneros is a poet, short story writer, novelist, essayist, performer and artist whose work explores working class lives and landscapes. She will receive the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame’s Fuller Award for lifetime achievement. 

As a Chicago native, Cisneros began her career with the 1980 publication of poetry chapbook Bad Boys and her must-read 1984 young adult novel, The House on Mango Street. Her most recent work is 2015’s A House of My Own: Stories From My Life. 

Cisneros has received many prestigious awards, including the American Book Award, a MacArthur Fellowship, a Lannan Literary Award for Fiction, and an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Fiction. The Chicago Literary Hall of Fame’s award acknowledges Cisneros’s rightful place as one of our greatest contemporary authors and her enormous influence on our literary and cultural life.

Carlos Cumpián will serve as the master of ceremonies for the evening, and a lineup of speakers that includes Jorge Valdivia and Richard Bray, will give short tributes. Donna Seaman will interview Sandra after her acceptance speech, with audience members invited to submit questions. More speakers and details will be added throughout the next couple of weeks. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required in advance.