#PhilippineLiterature PEN/Solidaridad launch Cecilia Brainard's novels

Internet in Makati is slow but here is a picture taken at the June 24 launch for my 2 novels, Magdalena and The Newspaper Widow, at the iconic bookshop, Solidaridad.

There was a lively discussion after my talk and I'll expand on that later on, but we touched on publishing, marketing issues, writing historical fiction, the Alex Tizon's article My Family's Slave, and more.

There are more book launches for my novels:

Fri., June 30, 2-4:30 p.m. Lecture, UST College of Education, Albertus Magnus Bldg., Rm 305, University of Santo Tomas, Espana St., Sampaloc, Manila, call Ms. Anna Nicolas 406-1611 local 8281 to reserve seats;

Mon. July 3, 6-8 p.m., Book Launch, DLSU Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Center, European Documentation Centre, 13th Floor, Henry Sy Sr. Hall, De La Salle University, 2401 Taft Avenue, Malate, Manila, Gate 2, call 5244611, local 233 or email bnscwc@dlsu.edu.ph; 

Sat. July 8, 5 p.m. Book Launch, Activity Center Ayala, Cebu, sponsored by #CebuLitFest/Hendri Go.

The photo above shows, seated l-r: Paul Matcott, Cecilia Brainard, National Artist F. Sionil Jose; stand l-r r: Brenda Matcott, Cynthia Posa Maribel Paraz, Lynley Ocampo.

#PhilippineLiterature Review of Magdalena, novel by #CeciliaBrainard

Note: Cecilia Brainard's novels, Magdalena and The Newspaper Widow, will be launched on Monday, July 3 at 6 pm, #DLSU, and in Cebu on Saturday July 8 at 5 pm, Activity center St Ayala Cebu.

Review of "Magdalena" novel by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, by Maribel Paras

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's novel, MAGDALENA, is a poignant story of the lives and loves (some forbidden) of three generations of women against a background of Filipino culture. Our generation, which is aware of family lineages which include frailes and of how the feudal system has influenced our society, will easily identify with it. This story leaves a tug in the heart and gives an understanding and appreciation of the vicissitudes of life.

Philippines: Schedule of Cecilia Brainard's Books Events Re her Two Novels

Schedule of Cecilia Brainard's Book Events re her novels, The Newspaper Widow & Magdalena. The events are free and open to the public. It's best to call beforehand.

Sat. June 24, 5 p.m., Book Launch, PEN/Solidaridad Book Shop, 531 Padre Faura Street, Ermita, Manila, call 2341086 or email philippinepen@yahoo.com;  


Fri., June 30, 2-3:30 p.m. Lecture, UST College of Education, Albertus Magnus Bldg., Rm 305, University of Santo Tomas, Espana St., Sampaloc, Manila, call Ms. Anna Nicolas 406-1611 local 8281 to reserve seats;

Mon. July 3, 6-8 p.m., Book Launch, DLSU Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Center, European Documentation Centre, 13th Floor, Henry Sy Sr. Hall, De La Salle University, 2401 Taft Avenue, Malate, Manila, Gate 2, call 5244611, local 233 or email bnscwc@dlsu.edu.ph; 

Sat. July 8, 5 p.m. Book Launch, Activity Center Ayala, Cebu, sponsored by #CebuLitFest /Hendri Go.

Tags: Philippines, literature, writer, book, #PhilippineLiterature

Read also

PEN Invitation to the Book Launch of Cecilia Brainard's Two Novels - June 24, 2017

De La Salle University Invitation to Twin Book Lannch of Cecilia Brainard's Novels - July 3, 2017

The Newspaper Widow by Cecilia Brainard, Press Release & Book Launchings

Philippine Literature: Cecilia Brainard to Lecture at the University of Santo Tomas, Manila

CECILIA MANGUERRA BRAINARD TO LECTURE IN UST

Filipino American fictionist Cecilia Manguerra Brainard will be giving a lecture on her recently published novel titled THE NEWSPAPER WIDOW (UST Publishing House, 2017) to UST College of Education students on June 30, 2017 at 2:00-3:30 PM in Rm. 305, Albertus Magnus Bldg., University of Santo Tomas, España St., Sampaloc, Manila. The event is hosted by the UST Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies (UST CCWLS), the UST Publishing House, and the UST Department of Literature.

After the lecture there will be a book signing. The Philippine edition of MAGDALENA (also published by UST), will also be available to readers who want the author to autograph the book. MAGDALENA is also a novel. It inspired a play, “Gabriela’s Monologue,” produced by Bindlestiff Studios in San Francisco.

Brainard is the award-winning author of nine books, including the internationally-acclaimed novel, When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, Magdalena, Vigan and Other Stories, Acapulco at Sunset and Other Stories, Philippine Woman in America, Woman with Horns and Other Stories, Cecilia’s Diary 1962-1968, Fundamentals of Creative Writing, and Out of Cebu: Essays and Personal Prose.

She has received 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. She has also been awarded by the Filipino and Filipino American communities she has served. She received the prestigious Filipinas Magazine Arts Award, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines. She has received several travel grants in the Philippines, from the USIS (United States Information Service).

She has lectured and performed in worldwide literary arts organizations and universities, including University of California in Los Angeles, University of Southern California, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN International, Beyond Baroque, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She teaches creative writing at the Writers Program at UCLA-Extension. She is married to Lauren R. Brainard, a former Peace Corp Volunteer to Leyte, Philippines; they have three sons.

The event is open to creative writers and literary enthusiasts. Call Ms. Anna Nicolas at 406-1611 local 8281 for seat reservations.

~~~

Book Launch and Lecture re The Newspaper Widow & Magdalena, by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

Manila - Saturday, June 24, 2017, 5 p.m, Book Launch at Philippine Center for PEN, Solidaridad Book Shop, 531 Padre Faura St., Manila;

Manila - Friday, June 30, 2017, 2-3:30  p.m. Lecture at the University of Santo Tomas College of Education, Rm. 305, Albertus Magnus Bldg.,Espana St., Sampaloc, Manila;

Manila - Monday, July 3, 2017, 6-8 p.m. Book Launch at Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Center, DLSU, European Documentation Centre, 13th Floor, Henry Sy Hall, Main Entrance, DLSU Gate 2;

Cebu - Saturday, July 8, 2017, 5 p.m.  Book Launch Activity Center of the Ayala Center, Cebu, Philippines, sponsored by Cebu Literary Festival

Tags: Philippines, literature, writer, book, #PhilippineLiterature

Read also

PEN Invitation to the Book Launch of Cecilia Brainard's Two Novels - June 24, 2017

De La Salle University Invitation to Twin Book Lannch of Cecilia Brainard's Novels - July 3, 2017

The Newspaper Widow by Cecilia Brainard, Press Release & Book Launchings

Book Review: Fiction by Filipinos in America, edited by Cecilia Brainard, reviewed by World Literature Today

FICTION BY FILIPINOS IN AMERICA edited by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard published by New Day Publishers, paper, ISBN 97110-0528X Available in eBook from Kindle   Review by World Literature Today, Autumn 1994 v68 n4 p894(1) COPYRIGHT 1994 University of Oklahoma

The stories in Fiction by Filipinos in America, as editor Cecilia Manguerra Brainard puts it, "deal with oppression, flight, dislocation, unrequited love, longing for an idealized home; these are stories of humans dominated by values that run deep, of fierce loyalty for family and friends, and always that Filipino tenacity to deal with life's hardships and remain undefeated. Together these stories paint a gigantic picture of the Filipino, whether in the Philippines or in America, and it is a wonderful picture, this of a person who struggles, fails at times, but keeps on, a most resilient human being." Resilience is a quality long associated with Filipinos. As a poet once said," A Filipino is pliant like a bamboo." Neither typhoons nor monsoons could break the Filipino spirit; like the bamboo, it sways and bends with nature's relentless onslaughts, but it refuses to yield or die.

World Literature Review of Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's Magdalena

MAGDALENA by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard published by Plain View Press Austin, Texas. Plain View. 2002. 164 pages.ISBN 1-891386-29-8 Philippine Edition of Magdalena, University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, 2016 Available in eBook from from Kindle

 Review by World Literature Today
Copyright 2003 by World Literature Today

World Literature Today, April-June 2003 v77 i1 p100(2)

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard. Magdalena. Book Review by Kathleen Flanagan.
Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2003 University of Oklahoma

CECILIA MANGUERRA BRAINARD'S novel Magdalena takes its title from a protagonist descended from several generations of equally compelling female characters. Brainard's earlier novel When the Rainbow Goddess Wept (1994) employed the viewpoint of an adolescent girl to recount the Japanese invasion of the Philippines during World War II. With Magdalena Brainard uses a nonlinear narrative and multiple points of view to describe the history of the Philippines that roughly corresponds to its contact with the United States from the Spanish-American War to the war in Vietnam. Magdalena begins and ends with the perspective of Juana, daughter of the title character and her American lover (a POW in Vietnam), who is herself pregnant and curious about her family history. Letters, diaries, and narratives from numerous characters help Juana reconstruct her maternal and, to a lesser extent, paternal lineage.

Book Review: Growing Up Filipino:Stories for Young Adults, Ed. Cecilia Brainard, Reviewed by Booklist

Booklist, April 15, 2003 v99 i16 p1462(1) 

Growing Up Filipino: Stories for Young Adults. (Book Review)_(book review) Frances Bradburn.

Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2003 American Library Association
Ed. by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard. Apr. 2003. 283p. PALH, paper, (0-9719458-0-2).
Gr. 9-12.
Available in eBook form from Kindle

In this fine short-story collection, 29 Filipino American writers explore the universal challenges of adolescence from the unique perspectives of teens in the Philippines or in the U.S. Organized into five sections--Family, Angst, Friendship, Love, and Home--all the stories are about growing up and what the introduction calls "growing into Filipino-ness, growing with Filipinos, and growing in or growing away from the Philippines." The stories are introduced by the authors, who illustrate the teenage experience as they remember it or as they wish to explain it to the reader--whether the focus is the death of a grandparent, budding sexuality, or going to the mall. The cultural flavor aspect never overwhelms the stories, and readers will be drawn to the particulars as well as the universal concerns of family, friends, love, and leaving home. While the stories are fairly easy to read, teens might be intimidated by the dense book design and small type. Take the time to help them overcome this. The stories are delightful!


Tags: Philippines, literature, young adults, book, #PhilippineLiterature

Read also
Book Review: Magdalena, novel by Cecilia Brainard, reviewed by Eileen Tabios
Book Review: Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, Edited by Cecilia Brainard, reviewed by Harold Augenbraum
Book Review: Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, edited by Cecilia Brainard, reviewed by Manoa
Book Review: Vigan and Other Stories, by Cecilia Brainard, reviewed by Allen Gaborro
Book Reveiw: Finding God: True Stories of Spiritual Encounters, Eds Brainard & Orosa
Book Review: Journey of 100 Years: Reflections on the Centennial of Philippine Independence, Eds Brainard & Litton

Book Review: Journey of 100 Years: Reflections on the Centennial of Philippine Independence, Eds Brainard & Littom

BOOK REVIEW
JOURNEY OF 100 YEARS: REFLECTIONS ON THE CENTENNIAL OF PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE

Edited by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard & Edmundo F. Litton

PAWWA (1999), 260 pages

AMERASIA JOURNAL

JOURNEY OF 100 YEARS

by Roger J. Jiang Bresnahan

As in most colonies in the nineteenth century, the grievances of Filipinos were many and resistance became more frequent, resulting in 1896 in the first phase of the Philippine Revolution. After its suppression, its leaders were paroled to Hong Kong. Two years later, the United States declared war on Spain, ostensibly on behalf of Cuba. With American help, Emilio Aguinaldo, the leader of the exiles in Hong Kong, was returned to the Philippines with a mandate to complete the revolution. In 1898, he inaugurated the Republic of the Philippines but eventually ran afoul of the Americans who opted for imperialism. Thus, the fledgling republic was short-circuited and the Philippines subjected to a harsher colonial rule than after Spain, involving a level of cultural and linguistic co-optation and economic domination that prevails even today.

Philippine Literature: Inquirer Article re PEN Book Launch of Cecilia Brainard' Novels, June 24, 2017

Here's a nice writeup that appeared in Philippine Inquirer today. Thanks to the Inquirer and the writer Levine Andro Lao:


http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/265725/pen-launch-cecilia-manguerra-brainard-novels-newspaper-widow-magdalena/

Philippine Literature: Mar V. Puatu's Story Venetian Encounter

(Here is another page I'm saving from PALHBOOKS.com, which I'm cleaning up. ~ Cecilia)



VENETIAN ENCOUNTER
by Mar V. Puatu

Quick!" Albert takes his Nikon and aims it at the beauteous, be-gowned Duchessa of Venice. He pushes me in front of the costumed beauty against the "Bridge of Sighs" overlooking the Grand Canal flowing inside the Venetian Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas.

Philippine Center of International PEN Invitation to the Book Launch of Cecilia Brainard's Two Novels

An invitation to the launching of two novels
THE NEWSPAPER WIDOW and MAGDALENA
(University of Santo Tomas Publishing House)
by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard
Hosted by the Philippine Center of International PEN

24 June 2017, Saturday, 5:00 PM
Solidaridad Bookshop, 531 Padre Faura St., Ermita, Manila

Open to the public. Admission is free.
For inquiries, please contact Solidaridad at (632) 2541086 or email philippinepen@yahoo.com.

About the Author
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard is the author of ten books, including the newly-released The Newspaper Widow, which was shortlisted by the Cirilo F. Bautista Prize for the Novel in 2015. Brainard's second novel, Magdalena, inspired a stage play, “Gabriela's Monologue” (produced by Bindlestiff Studio, SF). The Philippine edition of Magdalena was released in 2016 by the UST Publishing House. Her first novel, When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, received international critical acclaim. Her short story collections include Vigan and Other Stories, Acapulco at Sunset and Other Stories, and Woman with Horns and Other Stories. She also co-authored a novel, Angelica's Daughters: a Dugtungan Novel. Aside from writing, she edited ten books and manages PALH (Philippine American Literary House), a literary press. 

Cecilia has received 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. She has also been awarded by the Filipino and Filipino American communities she has served. She received the Filipinas Magazine Arts Award, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines. She has received several travel grants in the Philippines, from the USIS (United States Information Service).

About The Newspaper Widow

That super wordsmith from Cebu, the Philippines, Cecilia Brainard, never spins a
boring story. Her latest is a master whodunit that is also a period piece, a social
document and most of all, a literary jewel. A must read for any humdrum season
of the year. ~ F. Sionil Jose, Philippine National Artist for Literature

Cecilia Brainard’s deft hand for textured character and nuanced storytelling is on magnificent display in her latest novel The Newspaper Widow. What begins as a murder mystery transforms into something greater along the way, as love, loyalty, and friendship are tested and refined. Shortlisted for the inaugural Cirilo F. Bautista Prize for the Novel, Brainard’s novel is captivating read.
 ~ Dean Francis Alfar, author of Salamanca and The Kite of Stars and Other Stories

About Magdalena

With her second novel, Magdalena, Cecilia Brainard adds new portraits to the gallery in Philippine literature. She has always had a strong sense of place. Here, she provides an inner landscape as well. Together, these provide the coordinate for the family secrets that bind the characters as securely as bloodlines. By the end they have glimpsed who they have become, allowing the novel beyond its last page, to live on in the readers’ thoughts. ~ Linda Ty-Casper

Expertly written by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, Magdalena is set in the chaotic backdrop of twentieth-century East Asia. A romantic, powerful tale of three generations of Filipino women, written with a close eye on the terrors of war and the Japanese invasion of the Philippines during World War II, Magdalena is an intense, involving, highly recommended saga that documents Cecilia Manguerra Brainard as a gifted author with a mastery of story telling that will keep the reader’s total attention and engagement from first page to last! ~ Midwest Book Review

Read also:

Invitation Twin Book Launch of Novels by Cecilia Brainard at De La Salle University

Philippine Literature: Poems by Jose Garcia Villa

Jose Garcia Villa is wearing a vest and is seated in the back.
This picture, taken in 1945, includes Dame Edith Sitwell, Tennessee Williams, and others.

(Here is another page I'm saving from PALHBOOKS.com, which I'm cleaning up. ~ Cecilia)

POEMS BY JOSE GARCIA VILLA


Lyric 17

I can no more hear Love’s
Voice. No more moves
The mouth of her. Birds
No more sing. Words
I speak return lonely.
Flowers I pick turn ghostly.
Fire that I burn glows
Pale. No more blows
The wind. Time tells
No more truth. Bells
Ring no more in me.
I am all alone singly.
Lonely rests my head.
—O my God! I am dead.

Lyric 57

My most. My most. O my lost!
O my bright, my ineradicable ghost.
At whose bright coast God seeks
Shelter and is lost is lost. O
Coast of Brightness. O cause of
Grief. O rose of purest grief.
O thou in my breast so stark and
Holy-bright. O thou melancholy
Light. Me. Me. My own perfidy.
O my most my most, O the bright
The beautiful the terrible Accost.

Lyric 22

O lovely. O lovely as panther. O
Creation’s supremest dissenter.
Enter. Teach me thy luminous ire.
O jewelled, pacing, night-displacing
Fire. O night’s nimble-dancing, No-
Saying lyre. Embrace me. Defy me.
Reave me. None shall defend me.
Not God. Not I. Purify me. Consume
Me. Disintegrate me to thy ecstasy.
O lovely and without mercy. O dark-
Footed divinity. O lovely and terrible.
O death irreducible. O unimpeachable.

Fragment by Jose Garcia Villa

Anchored AngelAnd,lay,he,down,the,golden,father,
(Genesis’,fist,all,gentle,now).
between,the,Wall,of,China,and,
The,tiger,tree(his,centuries,his,
Aerials,of,light)…
Anchored,entire,angel!
He,in,his,estate,miracle,and,living,dew,
His,fuses,gold,his,cobalts,love,
And,in,his,eyepits,
O,under,the,liontelling,sun—
The,zeta,truth—the,swift,red,Christ.

Reprinted by permission of John Cowen. Copyright 2002 by John Edwin Cowen, Literary Trustee for the Jose Garcia Villa Estate

Author's Bio: 
Villa's first book (as editor) was Philippine Short Stories: Best 25 Short Stories of 1928 (©1929, Phils. Free Press), an anthology of Filipino short stories in English culled mostly from the issues of the Philippines Free Press for 1928. It would have been the first anthology of short stories, but another anthology, Philippine Love Stories (©1927, edited by Paz M. Benitez), mostly love stories, antedated it by one year.

[Earlier Filipino short story anthologies before World War II included one edited by O.O. Sta. Romana (ca. 1935); another edited by a Philippine-born American, Percy Hill (ca. mid- '20s), extant copies of which may be found in the Filipiniana collection of Leopoldo Y. Yabes, and in Morton Netzorg's Filipiniana collection which, after the owner's death, was  bought by the Francisco Ortigas family corporation; and a third copy owned by a Filipino resident in Portland, OR.; Percy Hill wrote Romance and Adventure in Old Manila, a collection of (probably) true accounts of life in Manila in previous centuries; one of them an account of the assassination of Gov. Bustamante by the Catholic clergy on the steps of the Ayuntamiento.]

Villa published the first (and for a time the only) collection of his short stories. Footnote to Youth: Tales of the Philippines and Others (©1933, Chas. Scribner's Sons). Many Voices (©1939, Phil. Book Guild) and Poems by Doveglion (©1941, Phil. Writers League), Villa's first two collection of poems, were published.

Villa would publish two more collections of his poems: Have Come, Am Here (©1942, Viking) and Volume Two (sic!) (©1949); and Selected Poems and New (© 1958, McDowell, Obolensky). And in the '60s, Villa's Poems 55 (© 1962), Poems in Praise of Love (© 1962), and Selected Stories (© 1962); followed by The Portable Villa (© 1962) and The Essential Villa (© 1965) ; the last 5 titles all Peso Books.

In 1962 Villa edited The Doveglion Book of Philippine Poetry in English from 1910, under the imprint of Katha Editions (© 1962, Lyd Arguilla and A. Florentino); it was reprinted in a Peso Book facsimile edition (© 1965) ; a 3rd expanded edition was published by Caliraya Foundation (©1975); a 4th revised edition by Anvil (© 1994).

(source: CCP Encyclopedia of the Philippine Arts (1994, 10 vols.).

In 1993 Selected Poems & New was reprinted in facsimile, student, softcover, newsprint edition by Bookmark for their Library of Philippine Literature.

In 1979 was published Appasionata: Poems in Praise of Love (©1979, King & Cowen), as well as some copies of Bravo! (© ca. 1980), a little magazine for poetry, edited by Villa. And in 1999, Anvil published The Parlement of Giraffes (poems by Villa for young readers "from 8 to 80"; with Tagalog translation by Larry Francia); and Eileen Tabios edited The Anchored Angel: Selected Writings by Villa, foreword by Jessica Hagedorn (© 1999, Kaya Press).

In 1973 Villa was named National Artist for Literature. Earlier, he was given a doctoral degree (honoris causa) for "humane letters" by Far Eastern University and later by the University of the Philippines.

(Villa's Bio by Alberto Florentino)

Read also

• Philippine Literature: Poems by Nina Estrada Puyat...
• Philippine American Literature: Poems by Valorie Slaughter Bejarano
• Guest Blogger: A Poem by Mila D. Aguilar
• Guest Blogger: Poems by Manuel Joseph Ponce
• Guest Blogger: Ralph Semino Galan, Ode to My Mom

#California - Purple Carrots, Black Radishes, Multi-colored Cauliflower at the Santa Monica Farmers Market

I visited the Santa Monica Farmers Market and saw for the first time purple carrots, black radishes, and multicolored cauliflower.

I was looking for orange-yolked eggs, like the ones I had in France and England.  I bought eggs from two vendors. Back home I fried one egg but the yolk did not have that deep rich color.  

Maybe I'll have to go back to Europe to find those eggs.  

Here are a few pictures taken at the Farmers' Market. That's MP and Milan, guests from India, who had great fun at the market.

Read also
Santa Monica, California: Mural on Steward Street "Pico Neighborhood"

Historic Chez Jay Restaurant in Santa Monica, California

Santa Monica City's New Tongva Park

Almost Summer in Santa Monica

Philippine Literature: Poems by Nina Estrada Puyat

(Cecilia's Note: I'm cleaning up the websites I manage  and came across this page from PALHBOOKS.com.  Since the webpage will be deleted, I decided to save these poems by Nina Estrada Puyat, noted Filipina poet whom I had the privilege of knowing.) 

Philippine Literature: Invitation Twin Book Launch of Novels by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

AN INVITATION:

De La Salle University Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Center

In Partnership with University of Santo Tomas Publishing House

Presents

A Twin Book Launch

The Newspaper Widow

Finalist for Cirilo F. Bautista Prize for Novel in 2015

and

Magdalena

novels by

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

3 July 2017 Monday, 6:00-8:00PM

European Documentation Centre, 13th Floor Henry Sy Sr. Hall

De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines

Open to the public. Admission is free.

Main Entrance: DLSU Gate 2. Visitors will receive a BNSCWC Event Pass upon entry,

and must bring an ID as identification evidence.

For inquiries, please contact BNSCWC at (632) 5244611 | local 233, email bnscwc@dlsu.edu.ph.

About the Author

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard is the author of ten books, including the newly-released The Newspaper Widow, which was shortlisted by the Cirilo F. Bautista Prize for the Novel in 2015. Brainard's second novel, Magdalena, inspired a stage play, “Gabriela's Monologue” (produced by Bindlestiff Studio, SF). The Philippine edition of Magdalena was released in 2016 by the UST Publishing House. Her first novel, When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, received international critical acclaim. Her short story collections include Vigan and Other Stories, Acapulco at Sunset and Other Stories, and Woman with Horns and Other Stories. She also co-authored a novel, Angelica's Daughters: a Dugtungan Novel. Aside from writing, she edited ten books and manages PALH (Philippine American Literary House), a literary press which recently released the US edition of Linda Ty-Casper's A River, One Woman Deep: Stories. 

Cecilia has received 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. She has also been awarded by the Filipino and Filipino American communities she has served. She received the Filipinas Magazine Arts Award, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines. She has received several travel grants in the Philippines, from the USIS (United States Information Service).

She has lectured and performed in worldwide literary arts organizations and universities, including UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Beyond Baroque, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others.  She teaches creative writing at the Writers Program at UCLA-Extension. Born and raised in Cebu and now a resident of California, she visits the Philippines regularly. 

Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Center

De La Salle University

2401 Taft Avenue, Malate, Manila, Philippines 0922

(632) 5244611 local 233

bnscwc@dlsu.edu.ph

Facebook: Bns Creativewritingcenter

Tags: Philippines, Philippine, Filipino, writer, author, book, novel, fiction, stories

Read also:

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• Women and My Writing (And Advice to Young Writers)...
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Philippine American Literature: Poems by Valorie Slaughter Bejarano

 Val was my dear friend. She is now gone and I want to make sure she is remembered as a one of our fine Filipino American poet and writer.)

An Interview with Cecilia Manguerra Brainard by Dana Hubler, Poets & Writers Magazine

AN INTERVIEW WITH CECILIA MANGUERRA BRAINARD

by Dana Hubler

Published in Poets & Writers Magazine, March/April 1997

At the time of our interview, Cecilia Manguerra Brainard is getting ready for her second trip to the Philippines in less than three months. We meet at her house in Santa Monica, California, where she lives with her husband, Lauren, and their youngest son, Drew. Furnished with a blend of Filipino antique furniture and folk art and more typically American trappings, the house is spacious and bright.

Foregrounding Myths and Legends in Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's "When the Rainbow Goddess Wept", Ruth S. Rimando - Thesis Paper

FOREGROUNDING MYTHS AND LEGENDS
IN CECILIA MANGUERRA-BRAINARD’S
“ WHEN THE RAINBOW GODDESS WEPT”

A Thesis Submitted to the
Faculty of Arts and Letters of the
University of Santo Tomas

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of Bachelor of Arts
Major in Literature

By
Ruth S. Rimando
February 2006

Philippine Literature: The Newspaper Widow & Magdalena, by Cecilia Brainard, Book Launching & Press Release

Book Launching for The Newspaper Widow & Magdalena, by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

Manila - Saturday, June 24, 2017, 5 p.m, Philippine Center for PEN, Solidaridad Book Shop, 531 Padre Faura St., Manila;

Manila - Friday, June 30, 2017, 2-3:30  p.m. University of Santo Tomas College of Education, Rm. 305, Albertus Magnus Bldg.,Espana St., Sampaloc, Manila;

Manila - Monday, July 3, 2017, 6-8 p.m. Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Center, DLSU, European Documentation Centre, 13th Floor, Henry Sy Hall, Main Entrance, DLSU Gate 2;

Cebu - Saturday, July 8, 2017, 5 p.m. Activity Center of the Ayala Center, Cebu, Philippines, sponsored by Cebu Literary Festival

~~~
PRESS RELEASE

BRAINARD’S NOVEL “THE NEWSPAPER WIDOW”

INSPIRED BY 1909 GREAT-GRANDMOTER

          Inspired by her great-grandmother, Cecilia Manguerra Brainard wrote about a newspaper woman from 1909 who solves a crime in Ubec. Brainard’s great-grandmother was Remedios Diosomito Cuenco who was widowed at the age of 39, and who took over her husband’s Imprenta Rosario press in Cebu, Philippines. 

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

           Brainard’s imaginings gave birth to her third novel, The Newspaper Widow (University of Santo Tomas Publishing House 2017), a literary mystery, which starts off with the discovery of a dead priest’s body in a creek, but which is really about the protagonist Ines Maceda and how she fights for her son’s freedom. It is also very much the story of the deepening friendship between two women of opposite temperaments, and of the men in their lives who love and have loved them. 

  

            The Newspaper Widow, which was shortlisted in the Cirilo Baustista Prize for the novel, has received advanced praise. Dean Francis Alfar, author of Salamanca and The Kite of Stars and Other Stories writes: "Cecilia Brainard’s deft hand for textured character and nuanced storytelling is on magnificent display in her latest novel The Newspaper Widow. What begins as a murder mystery transforms into something greater along the way, as love, loyalty, and friendship are tested and refined."  

            Philippine National Artist for Literature, F. Sionil Jose, says, “That super wordsmith from Cebu, the Philippines, Cecilia Brainard, never spins a boring story. Her latest is a master whodunit that is also a period piece, a social document and most of all, a literary jewel. A must read for any humdrum season of the year.   

    

            Filipino American writer, Brian Ascalon Roley, (American Son and The Last Mistress of Jose Rizal) praises Brainard's work by saying, "this poetic new novel is an enchanting read. She combines compelling characters with an intriguing mystery and page-turning literary suspense. I can’t think of a more fruitful historical setting, the early years of the United State’s colonial empire in Asia, here so beautifully rendered. Beneath the mystery this is a moving story of a mother trying to protect her adult son from prison."

            American novelist James E. Cherry (Edge of the Wind) says: “This is not your run of the mill '"who done it."  Matter of fact, about halfway through The Newspaper Widow, you'll be certain that the lawyer did it – or did he?  But what this is, is Cecilia Brainard weaving her magic of culture, folklore and myth to produce a tapestry of rich Filipino history and that she remains one of its primary artisans.

           The American Southern writer of Trio, A Corpus Christi Trilogy, Eve La Salle Caram, summarizes the novel by calling it "An intriguing mystery and also very much the story of the deepening friendship between two women of opposite temperaments, Ines and Melisande, and of the men in their lives who love and have loved them. Beautifully written. Evocative. A rich depiction of character, time and place that will live in a reader's memory. "

          Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, who hails from Cebu, Philippines and resides in California, is the author and editor of 20 books. Her titles include her first novel, (When the Rainbow Goddess Wept), her short story collections (Woman with Horns and Other Stories, Acapulco and Other Stories, and Vigan and Other Stories), nonfiction books, and others. Her third novel, The Newspaper Widow, will be released by the University of Santo Tomas Publishing House in 2017.

             Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized. Brainard's novel, Magdalena inspired a stage play, Gabriela's Monologue, which was produced in 2011 by the Bindlestiff Studio in San Francisco as part of Stories XII! annual production.

            Brainard received the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu. She has also received a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award from the Los Angeles City Board of Education for her work dealing with Asian American youths. She also received a Filipinas Magazine Award for Arts, a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate 21st District, and several travel grants in the Philippines, from the USIS (United States Information Service).

            The Newspaper Widow is available from the University of Santo Tomas Publishing House (publishingatust.edu.ph). In the US, contact palh@aol.com for copies.
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Tags: Philippines, literature, Filipino, book, writer, novel, fiction, author, Cebu, Manila #CebuLitFest

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Women and My Writing (And Advice to Young Writers) by Cecilia Brainard

Women and My Writing

(And Advice to Young Writers)

By

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

[This is a redacted version of the author’s blog post in

http://cbrainard.blogspot.com/2017/03/women-and-my-writing-by-cecilia.html

This short version was published in Positively Filipino last April 26, 2017]

I’ve been told that many of the characters I’ve created are women, and when I first heard this I got huffy, thinking I was being insulted. In fact, this is true, and I’d like to now look at my writing and see how it connects with women. I also want to share other thoughts about writing as well as advice to writers.