Poet, short story writer, novelist, essayist and artist, Sandra Cisneros is the author of “Bad Boys,” “My Wicked Wicked Ways,” “Loose Woman,” “Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories,” “The House on Mango Street,” “Caramelo,” “Have You Seen Marie?” “Vintage Cisneros”—a compilation of her works— and “Bravo, Bruno.” Her most recent books are “A House of My Own: Stories from My Life,” which is illustrated with photographs, and “Puro Amor” in a dual-language edition translated by Liliana Valenzuela and featuring illustrations by the author. In her new book “Martita, I Remember You/Martita, te recuerdo: A Story in English and Spanish,” a long-forgotten letter sets off a charged encounter with the past. (amazon, 2021)

“Martita, I Remember You/Martita, te recuerdo” – As a young woman, Corina leaves her Mexican family in Chicago to pursue her dream of becoming a writer in the cafés of Paris. Instead, she spends her brief time in the City of Light running out of money and lining up with other immigrants to call home from a broken pay phone. But the months of befriending panhandling artists in the métro, sleeping on crowded floors, and dancing the tango at underground parties are given a lasting glow by her intense friendships with Martita and Paola. Over the years the three women disperse to three continents, falling out of touch and out of mind—until a rediscovered letter brings Corina’s days in Paris back with breathtaking immediacy. “Martita, I Remember You” is a rare bottle from Sandra Cisneros’s own special reserve, preserving the smoke and the sparkle of an exceptional year. Told with intimacy and searing tenderness, this tribute to the life-changing power of youthful friendship is Cisneros at her vintage best, in a beautiful dual-language edition.