TRAVELS (and more) WITH CECILIA BRAINARD: Recap of Hot Off the Press Readings at the #FilAmBookFest

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Recap of Hot Off the Press Readings at the #FilAmBookFest

Dear Readers,

l-r: Cecilia Brainard, Walter Ang. Aileen Cassinetto, Elmer Omar Bascos, Cindy Fazzi, EJR David, Grace Talusan, Krip Yuson, Betty Ann Quirino

The Hot Off the Press Literary Readings at the recent Filipino American International Book Festival were held last Saturday October 12, 2019, at the Koret Auditorium, San Francisco Main Library. Each reading showcased up to 10 authors promoting new books. In less than ten minutes, they talk about or read from their books, giving the audience a sample, so to speak, of their work.

The writers traveled from the UK, the Philippines, Canada, Hawaii, and various parts of the US to let people know about the fruits of their labor: writings about food, about families, about growing up, about fantasy worlds, about knowledge they had gleaned, about anger, pain, but also love.

l -r: Cecilia Brainard, Walter Ang, Grace Talusan, EJR David, Criselda Yabes, Elmer Omar Bascos, Betty Ann Quirino, Cindy Fazzi, Krip Yuson.

Walter Ang read from his history of Filipino American Theater. Betty Ann Quirino charmed the audience with the courtship story of her parents that involved rice -- this from her cookbook. Also about food, Jacqueline Chio-Lauri, who flew in from the UK, shared an excerpt from her The New Filipino Kitchen anthology.

The poets delighted with their verses and passion: Aileen Cassinetto, Elmer Omar Bascos, Alfred Yuson, Arlene Biala, and Melinda Luisa de Jesus. (Absent, but missed, was Leny Strobel.)

The fiction writers read excerpts from their stories: Cindy Fazzi, Criselda Yabes, Rin Chupeco, Sarge Lacuesta, Ricco Siasoco, Yves Lamson, and yours truly (Cecilia Brainard).

Grace Talusan read from her memoir and E.J. Ramos David read letters he had written to his children. Rick Rocamora had his photobook.

l-r: Cecilia Brainard, Rin Chupeco, Arlene Biala, Melinda Luisa de Jesus, Sarge Lacuesta, Rick Rocamora, Jacqueline Chio-Lauri, Ricco Siasoco, Yves Lamson — with Arlene Biala, Melinda Luisa de Jesús, Sarge Lacuesta, Ricco Siasoco and Yves Lamson.

As host and moderator of HOTP since 2011, I have to coordinate the events with the writers and in so doing have a closer look at their work and their character. (For example, you know who submit information promptly or who don't; you get to know who will respect the program guidelines or who don't.) To me most of these writers are warriors, the thinkers of our Filipino and Filipino American communities. They are the ones who preserve our culture and our stories.

A writer I knew, Emma Gee, gave advise to other writers: Don't wipe your feet. Leave tracks.

I share this same advice to these writers and others out there:
Don't wipe your feet. Leave tracks.

For the authors' bios, please check this site:
https://cbrainard.blogspot.com/2019/08/hot-off-press-literary-readings-in-san.html

Thank you, dear readers,for continuing to follow this travel blog. I also keep a blog in my official website: https://ceciliabrainard.com

Salamat!

Cecilia Brainard

You can watch the entire first HOTP reading on Facebook streamed by Tony Robles:

https://www.facebook.com/tony.robles.330/videos/10156415101611975/?fref=gs&dti=400193900082870&hc_location=group

tags: #FilAmBookfest #Filamlitfest #literature #authors #poets #goodreads #librarygirl #pinoylit #Filipino #FilipinoAmerican #Filam #books #writers #authors #poetry #academics

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.