TRAVELS (and more) WITH CECILIA BRAINARD: Visiting Philippine National Artist F.Sionil Jose & Tessie Jose

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Visiting Philippine National Artist F.Sionil Jose & Tessie Jose

There are now two additional tropical storms around Manila, which accounts for the bad weather. The rain is sporadic but very strong when it falls. Despite feeling intimidated by the rain and traffic, I visited Frankie (F. Sionil, Philippine National Artist) and Tessie Jose at their iconic Manila bookshop, Solidaridad.

I admire and have affection for Frankie and Tessie and do my best to visit them when I can.

Yesterday, Frankie announced that we should visit My Dream World, a huge and glitzy casino in Manila's reclamation area. We had a pleasant merienda at The Red Ginger. Frankie said we should try the Japanese restaurant there next time; he had heard it's good.

We did not seem to have much time to talk; or I seeemed to be the one talking mostly. But it was nice to see them well and happy.

Visiting them and the Solidaridad feels like "going home" in many ways.

Thank you Frankie, Tessie - mabuhay!

Read also
F.S. Jose Collection Turnover to DSLU Libraries
Lunch with F.S. Jose
F.S. Jose Play, Progress
Tags: Philippine literature, Philippines, literature, Filipino, authors, novelists, F.S. Jose, Philippine national artist, Tessie Jose, F.Sionil Jose, Cecilia Brainard

This is all for now,
Cecilia

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.