TRAVELS (and more) WITH CECILIA BRAINARD: Remembering PAWWA (Philippine American Women Writers and Artists)

Friday, January 3, 2014

Remembering PAWWA (Philippine American Women Writers and Artists)

I'm remembering the group, PAWWA, which I co-founded in 1991. The seven of us had great fun, and we were also quite productive.

The picture above shows, l-r: Fe Koons, Cecilia Brainard, Valorie Bejarano, Susan Montepio, Mariquita Davison, Nenutzka Villamar, and Cecile Ochoa.

This is the Wikipedia writeup about the group:

Philippine American Women Writers and Artists also known as PAWWA was founded in 1991 by a group of seven Filipina writers in Southern California.^[1] It was the first such support group for Filipina women writers. Aside from supporting one another, the group wanted to help other Filipina writers and artists, as well as to provide community service. PAWWA encouraged the creation of PAWWA-North, headed by Ceres Alabado in the Bay Area, California.

PAWWA's founding members are: Valorie Slaughter Bejarano, Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, Mariquita Athena Davison, Fe Panalingan Koons, Susan N. Montepio, Cecile Caguingin Ochoa, and Nentuzka C. Villamar.

For six years, PAWWA received the highly competitive Multicultural Entry Grant from the California Arts Council (CAC). PAWWA used that funding to help publish a newsletter and books: Seven Stories from Seven Sisters: A Collection of Philippine Folktales (1992); The Beginning and Other Asian Folktales (1995); A Directory of Philippine American Women Writers and Artists; and Journey of 100 Years: Reflections on the Centennial of Philippine Independence (1999).^[2]

On April 14, 1998, PAWWA and the Asian Pacific Student Services of Loyola Marymount University held a one-day conference entitled "Journey of 100 Years." Presenters were : Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, Maria Luisa Carino (or Maria Luisa Igloria), Rosita Galang, Paulino Lim, Jr., Edmundo Litton, Herminia Menez, Susan Montepio, and Nadine Sarreal. An offshoot of that conference was the book, Journey of 100 Years.

When PAWWA's CAC funding ran out in June 1998, the remaining members of PAWWA decided to move on, and PAWWA was dissolved.

Ceres Alabado in Northern California started PAWWA-North, which evolved into PAWA (Philippine American Writers and Artists).

This is all for now,

Cecilia

tags: Philippines, Philippine American, literature, group, writers, authors, women, Filipinas

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.