Sandra Cisneros was in Chicago, Illinois on December 20, 1954. She received a B.A. in English from Loyola University of Chicago in 1976 and a M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of Iowa in 1978. She has worked as a college recruiter, an arts administrator, a teacher to high school dropouts, and a poet. She has also visited numerous colleges around the country as a visiting writer. She has written several books including The House on Mango Street, Caramelo, Loose Woman, and Have You Seen Marie?. She has been honored with numerous awards including the MacArthur Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, and a Texas Medal of the Arts.