How I Became a Writer - John Jack G. Wigley - Filipino FilAm Series #4

 

From Cecilia Brainard: I am proud to share Dr. John Jack G. Wigley's Essay on HOW I BECAME A WRITER. All articles and photos are copyrighted by the individual authors. All rights reserved. Cecilia Brainard and PALH have permission from the authors to use their materials. 

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Professor John Jack G. Wigley, Ph.D., is the author of seven books and co-author of a number of textbooks on literature and creative writing. Presently, he is a literature professor at the Faculty of Arts and Letters, a Research Fellow of the UST Research Center for Culture, Arts, and the Humanities (RCCAH), and a Resident Fellow of the Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies (UST-CCWLS). He was a former Director of the UST Publishing House and Chair of the UST Department of Literature.

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A Writer’s Journey Through Memoir Writing

John Jack G. Wigley

I already have seven books – two memoirs, two books of creative nonfiction, a short story collection, a novel, and a translation of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera. Some of them have been recognized as outstanding books in local and national book awards. Although I have tried my hand at writing in different genres, I guess I am most remembered for writing memoirs. The first two books I wrote, Falling into the Manhole and Home of the Ashfall, were memoirs. This is my journey of becoming a writer through the writing of memoirs.

 THE BEGINNING   

I developed an early love for literature as a child. While most boys my age would play tumbang preso or shoto or climb guava trees and catch spiders under the scorching heat of the midday sun, I would get the storybook my mother gave me during Christmas, and holler at the young kids, about four or five years old, to come and gather around the wooden staircase of Lolo Jessie. I would borrow my neighbor's kiddie blackboard, ruler, and chalk and read passages from the storybook aloud. I would bang on the board if I saw inattentive kids who seemed uninterested in listening to my retelling of Why the Pineapple Has Many Eyes or Chicken Little. I would ask the kids who said what and what happened to whom in the story. They would answer in unison as I flashed illustrations from the book. I was fascinated by the stories I read to them, totally lost in the world of Pina, the disobedient child, and Chicken Little, the innocent fowl who thought the world was over after an acorn fell on his head.

One day, I thought to myself, I will be writing my own stories.

 

 

How I Became a Writer - Caroline S. Hau - Filipino FilAm Series #3

From Cecilia Brainard: I am proud to share Dr. Caroline S. Hau's Essay on HOW I BECAME A WRITER. All articles and photos are copyrighted by the individual authors. All rights reserved. Cecilia Brainard and PALH have permission from the authors to use their materials here. 

 

Caroline S. Hau was born in Manila and educated at the University of the Philippines-Diliman and Cornell University. Her books include Tiempo Muerto: A Novel, Demigods and Monsters: Stories, and Recuerdos de Patay and Other Stories. She lives in Kyoto.

 

 

How I Became a Writer

Caroline S. Hau

1 

People like myself aren’t supposed to dream of being a writer, let alone become one.

            Asked what course they would like to take up in college, the children of my neighborhood of San Nicolas in the part of Manila known as Chinatown mostly responded with “Commerce.” I myself copped to that once or twice, despite having zero interest in minding the store.

            The long 1970s were a literary desert for the Philippine Chinese. The price paid by Chinese-language newspapers to remain in publication was the abolition of the literary section, the better to avoid having one’s work (mis)interpreted as a critique of current affairs. A moot issue anyway, since I could barely read and write Mandarin Chinese.

Before that, writing was among the childish things one put away. Pioneers of Chinese-Filipino fiction in English like Alexander SyCip and Benito Lim published only a handful of short stories.

           My parents, however, belonged to that rare breed of Chinese Filipinos who were able to pursue full-time careers as artists. It was my mom who supported my decision to major in English instead of a Pre-Med course at the University of the Philippines. (The response I got from others was invariably “English lang?”) 

I met Charlson Ong soon after the EDSA Revolution opened up a democratic space for writers and publishers. Charlson showed that it was possible to write compellingly about being Tsinoy as a Tsinoy (or, better still, “Intsik”, a fraught term Charlson has called for reclaiming). 

Philippine Folktale - Los Siete Pecados, by Filomena Alesna Cuenco

Filomena Alesna Cuenco

Message from Cecilia Brainard: I am happy to feature a retelling by my maternal grandmother Filomena Alesna Cuenco, of a popular folk tale from the Philippines, called Los Siete Pecados, which translates into the Seven Sins.  It is an origin story of seven small islands near Iloilo in the Visayas area of the Philippines.

I came across this folk retelling by my maternal grandmother when I did research about the families of my mother and father and found a wealth of old newsclippings now archived in some libraries. The retelling by my grandmother was originally published in Bag-ong Kusog, January 22, 1932.  This periodical was ran by my great-grandmother Remedios Lopez Cuenco, the widow of Mariano Albao Cuenco. They were the parents of Senator Mariano Jesus Cuenco (my maternal grandfather), Archbishop of Jaro Jose Maria Cuenco, Representative Miguel Cuenco, Remedios Cuenco Borromeo, and other children many of whom died at infancy.  

Mariano Albao had founded the Imprenta Rosario (the printing/publishing press), but when he died, leaving Remedios widowed at the age of 39, she took over the publishing business. Her children helped her run the business. 

From my mother's stories, I had been under the impression that Filomena Alesna Cuenco was quiet and spent most of her time in the kitchen, away from the more bombastic and loud Cuenco clan.  When I came across this folk tale retelling by Filomena, I had to mentally adjust my image of her: she too helped run the Imprenta Rosario.

Filomena's retelling was in deep Visayan;  Alfredo Zanoria translated my grandmother's work into English. Alfredo is a retired Geologist, formerly with the California EPA. 

LOS SIETE PECADOS

A Memorable Tale of Seven Maidens in the Story about the Isles of the Seven Sins

by FILOMENA ALESNA CUENCO

First published in Cebuano in Bag-ong Kusog

 IF WE STUDY THE MAP of the Philippines, we will notice that not far from Guimaras Island and just across Iloilo harbor are seven little islands protruding out of the sea.  These are known as LOS SIETE PECADOS or SEVEN SINS based on a story from the ancient past.

An Afternoon with Exploding Galaxies, with Carlos Bulosan Book Club, PALH

 

Some photos taken at the book launch of Wilfrido Nolledo and Linda Ty-Casper's novels -- An Afternoon with Exploding Galaxies, Nov. 16, 2024, sponsored by the Carlos Bulosan Book Club and Friends of the Echo Park Library of LA.

Top photo - Seated: L-R. Cecilia Brainard, Blanca Nolledo , Velinda Rockello, Myrla Baldonado

Standing: L-R James Castillo, Noel Alumit, Ruel Nolledo, Orlando Nolledo, Jaime Geaga, David Rockello

Next photo - seated left is Swapna Pawar

Third photo shows Mrs. Nolledo talking to Belinda Rockello

Fourth photo shows Ruel Nolledo, Cecilia Brainard, and Mrs.Nolledo.

Here's the link to the video of the literary event: An Afternoon with Exploding Galaxies, launch of novels by Linda Ty-Casper (Three Cornered Sun) and Wilfrido Nolledo (But for the Lovers);

 

https://youtu.be/8wIDXqBsdHk?feature=shared

How I Became a Writer - Paulino Lim, Jr - Filipino FilAm Series #2

 

 

Paulino Lim, Jr. Copyright Paulino Lim, Jr.

From Cecilia Brainard: I am proud to share Dr. Paulino Lim's Essay on HOW I BECAME A WRITER. All articles and photos are copyrighted by the individual authors. All rights reserved. Cecilia Brainard and PALH have permission from the authors to use their materials here. 

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DR. PAULINO LIM, JR was born in the Philippines on August 23, 1935. He is an emeritus professor of English at California State University, Long Beach. In 2016 he was the recipient of a Philippine Presidential Award for Outstanding Filipino Individuals Overseas, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from his alma mater University of Santo Tomas, Manila. 

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SEÑORA MUÑOZ, daughter of a conquistador, conducted a kindergarten school for the children in the neighborhood, me included. I was five-years-old at the time. She taught us the alphabet, how to combine letters, and speak out the syllables: b, a, ba; l, e, le.

Señora lived with her family in a two-story mansion in Camalig in the province of Albay, Philippines.  Across the street was a plaza that fronted a 17th-century church. It was a joy to see in print the syllables and words that you hear. Because the American colonizers had decreed English to be the medium of instruction in public schools, with the indigenous language of the region (Bisaya, Bikol, Ilocano, Tagalog) taught as a subject, the pupils read bilingually.

There were more texts in English than Bicol, my native language. My Catholic high school St. John's Academy had volumes of the Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Zane Grey, and Tarzan series. It also had copies of the National Geographic, with pictures of naked natives whose breasts were blotted out with black ink.

When you read, you become aware of how words are put together to express an idea. An idea may be an object you perceive and give it a name or a word that you, perhaps, already know, e.g., lily. You name its color “white” and compare its shape to a “trumpet,” that evokes the sound of a cavalry or jazz music. The cavalry and jazz create images in your mind, or imagination.

Imagination is one of the mind’s faculties as perception, memory, speculation, and judgment. Imagination creates mental images in the same way a painter creates visual images, or a jazz musician produces aural images.

Memory recalls past events or persons and awakens feelings and emotions. Speculation looks at a future event and its possible outcomes. Judgment looks at evidence, as in the courtroom, resulting in a certainty of it being true, but subject to revision when new evidence turns up. 

Carlos Roxas Interview of Cecilia Brainard re Frankfurt Book Fair

 

The Visayan group, from left: Kris Porio from Komiket, Jerrold Madridano, Susanne Rexrodt-Madridano, Hope Sabanpan-Yu , Julius Relampagos; Front row, l-r Cecilia Brainard, Dinah Roma.

 

Following are the articles by Carlos Roxas, published in Sunstar Cebu. Many thanks to Inigo Carlos Roxas for his zoom interview and writeup. 

 Correction: Cecilia Brainard was part of a panel entitled "Can Fiction Change the World"; RM Topacio Aplaon is the correct name - apologies

Part 1

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/cecilia-brainard-join-historical-frankfurt-book-fair-2024

l-r: Eliza Victoria, Khavn de la Cruz, Cecilia Brainard, RM Topacio Aplaon 

Part 2

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/cecilia-brainard-joins-historical-frankfurt-book-fair-2024-conclusion

 

READ also Cecilia's Report re Frankfurt Book Fair 2024 

https://cbrainard.blogspot.com/2024/10/cecilia-brainards-travel-report-of-fbm24.html 

Watch Excerpt from LitProm's Glimpses into Philippine Writing and Publishing - Cecilia Brainard Talks about her novel, The Newspaper Widow  

A Book Fair to Remember (And Get Ready For), by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, Positively Filipino 

More pictures from FBM24 

 

Photo of delegates after Turnover from Italy to the Philippines

 

photo courtesy of NBDB, l-r: Cecilia Brainard, Ned Parfan, Butch Dalisay, Beng Dalisay

 

Philippine reception, l-r: Hope Sabanpan-Yu, Senja Pozar (standing), Cecilia Brainard, Prashant Pathak

 

l-r: Anthony Balisi, Consul Mary Luck Hicarte, Cecilia Brainard

l-r: Cecilia Brainard, Barbel Becker, Petra Hardt 

l-r: Karina Bolasco, Ambeth Ocampo, Hope Sabanpan-Yu, Cecilia Brainard

l-r: Hope Sabanpan-Yu, Mara Coson, Cecilia Brainard, Ester Tapia

Group photo with Patricia Evangelista, author of Some People Need Killing -- Seated l-r: Ned Parfan, Patricia Evangelista; Standing l-r: Cecilia Brainard, Neni Sta. Romana Cruz, Karina Bolasco, Stephanie Coo, Rica Bolipata Santos, Ivy Banzon Abalos (Consul General).

Photo after the Philippine Press Conference, l-r: Jacobo, Kristian Cordero, Neni Sta. Romana Cruz, Karina Bolasco, Cecilia Brainard, Nida Ramirez, Guest, Guest

Philippine Reception l-r: Cecilia Brainard, Senja Pozar, Zala Stanonik, Mara Coson

Photo courtesy of NBDB l-r: Mara Coson, Ned Parfan, Senja Pozar, Cecilia Brainard, Zala Stanonik

l-r: Ned Parfan, Senja Pozar, Zala Stanonik, Cecilia Brainard, Mara Coson

l-r: Petra Hardt, Dimistri Tsoukatos, Cecilia Brainard, Senja Pozar, Zala Stanonik

Cecilia Brainard and Renato Tranquilino with Wiki Germany folk

Cecilia Brainard and Gene Alcantara

Paolo Herras and Cecilia Brainard

Charisse Aquino Tugade and Cecilia Brainard

 

Cecilia Brainard and Patricia Evangelista

Tina Pangan, Cecilia Brainard, Dimitri Tsoukatos

l-r: Arvin Sia, Cecilia Brainard, Gina Soriano, Edna Santos

l-r: Yasmin Arquiza, Cecilia Brainard, Hope Sabanpan-Yu

l-r: Eliza Victoria, Khavn de la Cruz, Cecilia Brainard, RM Topacio Aplaon

L-r: Khavn de la Cruz, Eliza Victoria, RK Topacio Aplaon, Dominator Buhain, Cecilia Brainard, Kristian Cordero, Sonia Santiago

l-r: Hope Sabanpan-Yu, Julius Relampagos, Cecilia Brainard

photo courtesy of NBDB l-r: Ester Tapia, Charisse Aquino Tugarde, Cecilia Brainard, Hope Sabanpan-Yu

Hope Sabanpan-Yu and Cecilia Brainard

Tags: #FBM24,  Frankfurt book fair, Philippine delegation to Frankfurt Book Fair

How I Became a Writer - Ian Rosales Casocot - Filipino FilAm Series #1

Ian Rosales Casocot, Copyright by Ian Rosales Casocot. 

From Cecilia Brainard: I am proud to kick off my Guest Blog Series featuring Filipino and FilAm Americans writing on the topic: HOW I BECAME A WRITER.  Please stay tuned because I'll be featuring more accomplished writers here. All articles and photos are copyrighted by the individual authors. All rights reserved. Cecilia Brainard and PALH have permission from the authors to use their writings. To start us off, here is IAN ROSALES CASOCOT 

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 Ian Rosales Casocot is the author of Don’t Tell Anyone, Bamboo Girls, Heartbreak & Magic, and Beautiful Accidents. He has won the Palanca nine times for his fiction, plays, and children’s poetry. In 2008, his novel Sugar Land was longlisted in the Man Asian Literary Prize. He was Writer-in-Residence for the International Writers Program of the University of Iowa in 2010. He is based in Dumaguete City

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WHEN MOST WRITERS are asked to explain why they write, they evoke the usual responses: they are heeding the call of the archetypal storyteller, and they are perhaps also trying to approximate the divinity of creation. Thomas Berger once famously said, “Why do writers write? Because it isn’t there”—with such pronouncements, the writer aims to be God-like in the piecing together of a universe peculiar to his literature.

But the Pulitzer Prize-winning James A. Michener may have said it best when he tried to explain why he wrote stories: “I write at eighty-five for the same reasons that impelled me to write at forty-five; I was born with a passionate desire to communicate, to organize experience, to tell tales that dramatize the adventures which readers might have had. I have been that ancient man who sat by the campfire at night and regaled the hunters with imaginative recitations about their prowess. The job of an apple tree is to bear apples. The job of a storyteller is to tell stories, and I have concentrated on that obligation.”

            I like that word “obligation” that Michener uses, because the fact of the matter is—and this all of us here may know to be a throbbing truth—nobody really forces anybody to write stories, and in fact one can handily go through life without knowing how it is like to write well, or to read well.

            And yet we write. And we back our choices up by constructing a sense of personal aesthetics that would explain why indeed we write, and why we write what we do write.

Tony Perez Portrait of Cecilia Brainard

I work at my computer just a couple of arms length away from this oil portrait by the artist/writer/master Tony Perez. I have been studying this portrait and admiring it, appreciating how difficult it is to create something big (for one thing) and get the proportions right, how challenging to get the expression right, and so on.

Tony and I first met years ago, when the US embassy awarded me with a travel grant; my first novel had just come out and the US embassy sent me on abook lecture to Mindanao, Baguio, and Manila of course. Tony and Tanya Anderson took care of me. I recall that there were teachers who traveled for 6 to 8 hours by bus to attend the lecture. I was amazed.

Tony is a psychic apart from his other gifts, and we had great talks about supernatural phenomena. One of the things he did was organize a "Ghost buster" type of group at the Ateneo, and they would go to haunted houses and send away the ghost or spirit haunting the place.

I recall Tony saying our hotel in Zamboanga had a ghost. I didn't feel the presence of the ghost -- I sometimes do --- but I thought that it was really fun, to have a ghost in your hotel while on a book tour.

These are some thoughts that come to my mind as I look at Tony's work of me -- his creativity, his broad interests and gifts are impressive.

Here are some pictures of his "Cecilia Brainard" which he includes in his gallery of Philippine writers.

Hi, Tony, thanks for the wonderful painting, and all the pleasant memories.

tags: Filipino art, Filipino artist, TonyPerez gallery