TRAVELS (and more) WITH CECILIA BRAINARD: The Freeman Article "Writers Pay Homage to the Queen City"

Sunday, November 22, 2009

The Freeman Article "Writers Pay Homage to the Queen City"

I have an essay in this anthology. I'm sorry I can't attend the book launching scheduled Nov. 27 in Cebu.
Cebu Lifestyle
Writers pay homage to the Queen City
(The Freeman) Updated November 21, 2009 12:00 AM

CEBU, Philippines - Anvil Publishing releases the third in a collection of books on cities with Cebu We Know, which will be launched on November 27, 4pm in Powerbooks Cebu at the SM Cebu North Wing. The book features essays by well-known Cebuano writers compiled by fictionist and columnist Erma Cuizon.

Located at the ‘very navel’ of the Philippine archipelago, Cebu is a center of trade and culture whose history is older than most cities in the country. As a layover to many people from Visayas and Mindanao, the island draws tourists and migrants who eventually call it home. Cebu is shown in its many facets and moods by the book’s contributors like Resil Mojares, Simeon Dumdum Jr. and Renato Madrid who write about its history and legends. Its coastline and beaches are the subject of essays by Erlinda Alburo, Charmaine Carreon and Hope Yu. Cebu is written of fondly by those who have left like Charmaine Fajardo and Cecilia Brainard.

Non- Cebuano writers also pay homage to this friendly city. In his foreword, Isagani Cruz writes, “From this book, I learned that writers can be inspired by almost anything on the island, such as horses, songs, cab drivers, stinginess, trees, seafood, corals, weeds, roast pig, coffee and schools. From what they experienced in Cebu, the writers in this book have weaved words of wonder, turning reality into literature”.

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books.. Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized. Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines. She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.