Programs and Events

These events took place in 2009.

Quicklinks: Lectures, Performances and Workshops | One Book, One Chicago at DePaul University | Discussion Groups | Kids Events | Teen Volume

Lectures, Performances and Workshops

Poetry Writing Workshops
In acknowledgement of April as National Poetry Month and in partnership with CityVerse, the Chicago Public Library’s initiative to promote poetry across Chicago, a series of free poetry writing workshops will focus on themes of neighborhood and community.
Reservations are required. Call (312) 747-8191.

• Saturday, April 4, 2:00 p.m.
  Workshop with Johanny Vasquez Paz
  Lozano Branch
  1805 S. Loomis Street
• Saturday, April 4, 3:00 p.m.
  Workshop with Regina Harris Baiocchi
  South Shore Branch
  2505 E. 73rd Street
• Thursday, April 16, 3:00 p.m.
  Workshop with Pam Osbey
  Kelly Branch
  6151 S. Normal Boulevard
• Saturday, April 18, 11:00 a.m.
  Workshop with Jennifer Karmin
  Bezazian Branch
  1226 W. Ainslie Street
• Saturday, April 18, 1:30 p.m.
  Workshop with Cynthia Gallaher
  Harold Washington Library Center, Room 3N5/Third Floor
  400 S. State Street
• Wednesday, April 22, 6:30 p.m.
  Workshop with Carlos Cumpián
  Albany Park Branch
  5150 N. Kimball Avenue
• Saturday, April 25, 2:00 p.m.
  Workshop with Kelly Norman Ellis
  Legler Branch
  115 S. Pulaski Road

Sandra Cisneros Talk and Book Signing
Tuesday, April 14, 6:00 p.m.
Chicago Public Library
Harold Washington Library Center
Cindy Pritzker Auditorium
400 S. State Street
Join Sandra Cisneros as she reflects on her prestigious career 25 years after the initial publication of her groundbreaking work, The House on Mango Street. A book signing will follow, with books available for purchase from Barbara’s Bookstore.

Dramatic Reading at Shimer College
Saturday, April 4, 7:00 p.m.
Shimer College
3424 S. State Street
Shimer College students will present a dramatic reading of vignettes selected from Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street, directed by Eileen Buchanan, professor of humanities and director of the Shimer College Theatre Program. A reception will follow. For more information call (312) 235-3510 or email b.stone@shimer.edu.

Palabra Pura Reading Series
Wednesday, April 15, 7:30 p.m.
Decima Musa
1901 S. Loomis Avenue
The Guild Complex presents a bilingual poetry reading featuring work by Latino/a poets that moves between languages and cultures. Poets reading their work include Dan Vera. For more information on the reading series and The Guild Complex, go to http://guildcomplex.org.

Proyecto Latina Reading Series
Monday, April 20, 7:00 p.m.
Radio Arte
1401 W. 18th Street
Mangos, Chismes y Mucho Más! This monthly reading series promotes and features emerging and established Latinas of all written and performance disciplines from Chicago. This month’s event honors Sandra Cisneros and includes a sneak peak at Tanya Saracho’s adaptation of The House on Mango Street. Proyecto Latina is a collaborative between Teatro Luna, Tianguis Books and Mariposa Atomica Ink. For more information, go to www.proyectolatina.org.

Staged Reading: The House on Mango Street
Monday, April 27, 7:00 p.m.
Steppenwolf Theatre—Upstairs Theatre
1650 N. Halsted Avenue
This fall, Steppenwolf will present Sandra Cisneros’ inimitable work about growing up Latina in Chicago. Adapted by Tanya Saracho, co-founder of Teatro Luna, this play will bring the world of Esperanza—her friends, family and neighbors, her dreams and her heartbreak—to vivid life on the stage. This reading presents Chicago actors performing scenes from the adaptation-in-progress.
Free event; reservations required! Call (312) 335-1650.

Community Forum on Immigration
Wednesday, April 29, 7:00 p.m.
Chicago Public Library
Logan Square Branch
3030 W. Fullerton Avenue
Join fellow Chicagoans from all backgrounds for a “town hall” meeting on the topic of immigration. The evening will feature a short reading, input by local activists and your conversation. This program is presented as a partnership between the Chicago Public Library, The Guild Complex and Latinos Progresando.

Ongoing Exhibit: Mexicanidad, Our Past Is Present
National Museum of Mexican Art
1852 W. 19th Street
(312) 738-1503
Sandra Cisneros has always drawn inspiration from the work of Mexican and Chicano artists such as those included in this permanent exhibit. Come experience the work of just a few of her favorites, including Ester Hernández, Josefina Aguilar, César Martínez, Einar and Jamex de la Torre, Olga Costa and Carmen Lomas Garza. This permanent exhibition showcases the National Museum of Mexican Art’s 6,000 piece collection as it chronologically traces the cultural history on both sides of the border. The changes, struggles and triumphs within Mexican communities are brilliantly depicted in the works of art and artifacts presented in each of the five sections. The exhibition begins with the ancient indigenous pre-Cuauhtémoc era and influences, and is followed by four additional sections: Colonial Mexico, Independence to Revolution, Post-Mexican Revolution to Present Day Mexico and the Mexican Experience in the U.S. For more information, go to www.nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org.

One Book, One Chicago at DePaul University

The following are sponsored by DePaul University’s Department of English. For more information, go to www.depaul.edu/~oboc or call (773) 325-7485.

Panel Discussion: Celebrating Latina Creativity in Chicago
Thursday, April 2, 6:00 p.m.
DePaul University
John R. Cortelyou Commons Building
2324 N. Fremont Street
Join a distinguished panel of artists who will discuss the path of their own creative journeys, examine the ways in which their work has been influenced by Cisneros, and trace the dynamic relationship between artists and their communities. Panelists will include Professor Bibiana Suarez from the Department of Art, Media and Design at DePaul University; Irasema Gonzalez, poet and founder of Tianguis Books; Coya Paz, co-founder of Teatro Luna and Visiting Multicultural Faculty in DePaul University’s Theatre School; and Tanya Saracho, co-founder of Teatro Luna who is adapting The House on Mango Street for the stage. Co-sponsored by the Women’s Center at DePaul University.
Free and open to the public; no reservations required.

Lecture: Mango Street Revisited—Youth, the Community/Barrio and Immigration in Mexican Chicago
Tuesday, April 21, 6:00 p.m.
DePaul University
McGowan South Building, Room 108
1110 W. Belden Avenue
Come to DePaul for a lecture by Juan Mora-Torres, associate professor in the Department of History. In the spring of 2006, over a million people, including large numbers of young people, marched in Chicago to demand civil rights for the undocumented population. This lecture/presentation revisits key themes in Sandra Cisneros’ novel The House on Mango Street—the meaning of community, the politics of the youth and issues of immigration in the making of contemporary Mexican Chicago.
Free and open to the public; no reservations required.

Panel Discussion: Uprooted and Unprotected—Voices of Longing in The House on Mango Street
Wednesday, April 29, 6:00 p.m.
DePaul University
Student Center, Room 120
2250 N. Sheffield Avenue
Join a panel of distinguished DePaul faculty who will explore various questions about the impact and importance of The House on Mango Street, from its representation of Latino communities in Chicago to its portrayal of the challenges faced by immigrants and first-generation Americans. Panelists will include Lourdes Torres, professor in the Latin American and Latino Studies Program; Euan Hague, associate professor in the Department of Geography; Bill Johnson González, assistant professor in the Department of English; and moderator Maria Beltran Vocal, professor in the Department of Modern Languages.
Free and open to the public; no reservations required.

DePaul University Course on The House on Mango Street
DePaul University’s Department of English offers a course dedicated to exploring the city’s One Book selection in a challenging academic setting. The course, entitled English 378, “Literature and Social Engagement: Chicago’s One Book—Issues and Perspectives,” will be taught this spring by Bill Johnson González, assistant professor of English. The class will survey all of Cisneros’ published works, with a special emphasis on The House on Mango Street, and will explore such topics as multilingualism, transnationalism and the place of Cisneros’ work in the tradition of Chicano/a literature. The course is available to DePaul undergraduates as well as adult learners seeking graduate-level credit. DePaul students who enroll in this course for Junior Year Experiential Learning credit will take advantage of a variety of service learning opportunities in the community. Lifelong learners who have already earned their bachelor’s degree are encouraged to visit www.depaul.edu/~oboc for more information about tuition and for further details about the application process. This 10-week course meets on Tuesday evenings, 5:45 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., beginning on March 31.

Discussion Groups

The below One Book, One Chicago discussion groups take place outside of library branches. Reservations are not required unless noted.

• Thursday, April 15, 10:00 a.m.
  Literacy Chicago
  17 N. State Street
  (312) 870-1100
• Tuesday, April 21, 7:30 p.m.
  Barnes & Noble Webster Place
  Presented by the Great Books Foundation
  1441 W. Webster Avenue
  (773) 871-3610
• Wednesday, April 22, 7:30 p.m.
  Wright College – Library
  4300 N. Narragansett Avenue
  (773) 777-7900
• Wednesday, April 22, 5:30 p.m.
  Instituto Cervantes – Biblioteca
  31 W. Ohio Street
  (312) 335-1996, Ext. 4045
• Thursday, April 23, 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
  Harold Washington College
  30 E. Lake Street
  (312) 553-5883
• Thursday, April 23, 2:00 p.m.
  Loyola University Chicago – Water Tower Campus
  Lewis Library, Room 713
  25 E. Pearson Street
  (773) 508-2641
• Thursday, April 23, 7:00 p.m.
  Gerber/Hart Library
  1127 W. Granville Avenue
  (773) 381-8030
• Tuesday, April 28, 7:30 p.m.
  Barnes & Noble Old Orchard
  Presented by the Great Books Foundation
  55 Old Orchard Center, Skokie
  (847) 676-2230

Kids Events

Preschool Story Time: Hairs/Pelitos
The Chicago Public Library will hold various story times for kids and families featuring Sandra Cisneros’ touching children’s story, Hairs/Pelitos, which in fact is a vignette lifted from The House on Mango Street. Ages 3-5.

• April 7, 11:00 a.m.
  Brighton Park Branch
  4314 S. Archer Avenue
  (312) 747-0666
• April 8, 10:00 a.m.
  Toman Branch
  2708 S. Pulaski Road
  (312) 745-1660
• April 16, 6:30 p.m.
  (for the whole family)
  Vodak-East Side Branch
  3710 E. 106th Street
  (312) 747-5500
• April 22, 11:00 a.m.
  Humboldt Park Branch
  1605 N. Troy Street
  (312)744-2244
• April 23, 6:00 p.m.
  Back of the Yards Branch
  4650 S. Damen Avenue
  (312) 747-8367

Teen Volume

Script-Writing Workshop
Saturday, April 18, 2:00 p.m.
Harold Washington Library Center
Lower Level Multipurpose Rooms
400 S. State Street
In partnership with Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Chicago Public Library will host writer and actress Tanya Saracho as the guest presenter of a script adaptation workshop especially for teens. Tanya Saracho is the adaptor of the fall 2009 Steppenwolf production of The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros.
Registration is required and space is limited! Call (312) 745-3941.

Reader’s Theatre Troupe Performance
Wednesday, April 29, 6:00 p.m.
Toman Branch
2708 S. Pulaski Road
(312) 745-1660
Chicago Public Library’s Teen Volume Reader’s Theatre Troupe brings books to life in performances of adaptations from current and classic literature relating to themes found in The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. This program will also feature an adaptation from The House on Mango Street. (Copyright © 1984 by Sandra Cisneros. Published by Vintage Books, a division of Random House, Inc. and in hardcover by Alfred A. Knopf in 1994. By permission of Susan Bergholz Literary Services, New York, NY and Lamy, NM. All rights reserved.) A presentation and discussion by Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s Young Adult Council follow the performances.

Teen Book Discussions
Join an engaging book discussion for teens in high school, ages 14-19. Three discussions will focus on The House on Mango Street. Please be sure to stop by or call the branch library to sign up in advance for each discussion and pick up or reserve a copy of the book.

• Thursday, April 16, 4:00 p.m.
  Albany Park Branch
  5150 N. Kimball Avenue
  (312) 744-1933
• Tuesday, April 21, 4:00 p.m.
  Blackstone Branch
  4904 S. Lake Park Avenue
  (312) 747-0511
• Wednesday, April 22, 4:30 p.m.
  Woodson Regional Library
  9525 S. Halsted Street
  (312) 747-6900