Field Museum, National Museum of Mexican Art host award-winning poet in joint event
CHICAGO – In a homecoming that is just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday, award-winning poet Sandra Cisneros returns to Chicago with her first new book of poems in twenty-eight years. Cisneros is presenting Woman Without Shame, which is also her first collection of poetry to be published in Spanish, in a sold-out event hosted by the Field Museum and the National Museum of Mexican Art.
Cisneros is a poet, short story writer, novelist, essayist, performer, and artist. Born and raised in Chicago, she has described Woman Without Shame as the culmination of her search for home—in the Mexico of her ancestors and in her own heart.
“When she was young, my mom played hooky from school, climbed out the window, and spent her day at the Field Museum,” Cisneros said. “As an adult, her regular museum visits continued but, lucky for me, she brought us kids with her, and that was key to the vast expansion of my imagination—I pretended the Field was my home and all the visitors were there to see me. And this is why it is so spiritually significant to be returning to the Field and to Chicago, with the help of my friends at the National Museum of Mexican Art, to celebrate my new collection of poetry, which is the culmination of a journey that it could be said began right here. In a way, my daydream is now coming true.”
A citizen of both the United States and Mexico, Cisneros currently lives in San Miguel de Allende, but returns home often.
“Knowing how much Sandra enjoyed visiting the Field Museum growing up in Chicago and delighting in both of our museums today, it seemed fitting for us to come together in welcoming her home to celebrate her most recent work,” the institutions said in a joint statement.
Field Museum press@fieldmuseum.org
National Museum of Mexican Art diane@nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org