COMING UP at the Frankfurt Book Fair this October 17, 2025:
Celebrating Translations of Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's Fiction
October 17, 2025, 1 pm
Pilipinas Stage, Philippine Stand, Hall 5.1 A95 & B95
Frankfurt Book Fair
Description of the Program:
Have you ever wondered how to get your books translated into other languages?
Join us to hear what Cecilia Manguerra Brainard’s literary agent and publishers have to say, as we celebrate the translations of her novels and Selected Short Stories into Arabic, Greek, Slovenian, Portuguese, Macedonian, Japanese, Serbian, and Azerbaijan.
Cecilia is the author of over 20 books, including the novels, When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, Magdalena, The Newspaper Widow; and her Selected Short Stories.
Literary Agent, Senja Pozar, will start the talk, followed by the publishers:
Filip Batkoski (Bata Press, North Macedonia),
Leonardo Garzaro (Editora Rua do Sabao, Brazil),
Nenad Saponja (Agora, Serbia)
Mohamed Radi (Egyptian Office for Publishing and Distribution),
Dejan Trajkoski (Prozart Media, North Macedonia), and
Dimitris Tsoukatos (Lemvos Editions, Greece).
Messages from Brainard’s other foreign publishers will be shared: Genki Shobou, Japan; and Qanun, Azerbaijan.
***
P
R E S S R E L E A SE - 9/16/25
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INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHERS CELEBRATE CECILIA MANGUERRA BRAINARD’S TRANSLATIONS AT FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR
Six international publishers will gather
at the Frankfurt Book Fair on October 17, 2025 to celebrate foreign
translations of fiction by the award-winning Filipino author Cecilia Manguerra
Brainard.
“Celebrating Translations of Cecilia
Manguerra Brainard’s Fiction” will also provide a forum for these noted
publishers to share their publishing expertise to the audience. The event is
one of the many programs presented by the National Commission for Culture and
the Arts and National Book Development Board where the Philippines is the Guest
of Honour country at the 77th Frankfurt Book Fair 2025.
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard is the author
and editor of over 20 books, including her Selected
Short Stories and her
novels: When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, Magdalena, and The
Newspaper Widow. A leading
fictionist in the Philippines, many of Brainard’s stories explore
historical events in the Philippines, memorializing how the Filipino people
have endured its turbulent history with resilience and humanity.
Cecilia’s literary agent who also
translated and edited her novel, The
Newspaper Widow (for Super založba),
will lead the talks. Senja Požar, founder of Ljubljana Book Academy, has nearly 30
years publishing experience, holding roles as editor, editorial director, and editor-in-chief
for fiction, non-fiction, textbooks, reference works, education books, and
magazines. Since 2016 she advanced international cooperation for Mladinska
knjiga and Cankarjeva založba, working on Frankfurt 2023 and Bologna 2024 GOH.
She later launched the Academy, became editor-in-chief, represents IRCAI under
UNESCO, and since 2020 has been part of Publishers Without Borders.
From Skopje, North Macedonia, Filip Batkoski translated Brainard’s
novels, Magdalena and The Newspaper Widow. Batkoski has been
working in the publishing industry since 2011 as the manager of Bata Press, a
family-run publishing house founded by his father, Nenad Batkoski. Under his
leadership, Bata Press has developed into a respected name in Macedonian
publishing, known for its dedication to literature and its support of local and
international authors. Committed to promoting Macedonian literature and
building cross-cultural connections, Filip continues to lead Bata Press with
passion and vision.
Publisher
Leonardo Garzaro, who hails from Sao Paulo, Brazil, published Brainard’s Selected Short Stories and her novel When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, under the
imprint of his publishing house Editora Rua du Sabao. Leonardo Garzoro, who is a
writer himself, has published dozens of books, including his recent novel, the Guardian of Names, which was
published in four countries and was nominated for the Jabut Award for
Literature. He currently writes for two of Brazil’s largest newspapers. He is
also a Brazilian literature consultant for the publishers in Argentina, Mexico;
Ecuador, and the Turkish agency Introtema.
Cairo-based Mohamed Radi translated
Brainard’s three novels into Arabic under the imprint of the Egyptian Office
for Publishing and Distribution of Publications. Radi is the Director and
Founder of the independent publishing house that has produced more than 1,000
titles by leading Arab authors and writers. It has translated more than 200
titles from various languages. Mohamed is vice-president of the African
Publishers Network. He has worked in public service as an elected board member,
held several positions as Chairman of the Media Committee of the Egyptian
publishers and Secretary-General of the Egyptian Publishers Association.
Nenad Šaponja translated into Serbian Cecilia Brainard’s novels, Magdalena and The Newspaper Widow under the imprint of Agora Publishing House. Šaponja is the owner and editor-in-chief of Agora, which he founded in 2002. It is one of the most renowned in the Balkans, through which he has edited and published more than 400 titles.
Šaponja, who lives in Novi Sad, Serbia, began his career as a neuropsychiatrist. He later followed his innermost calling and started writing poetry. His poetry fuses his backgrounds as neuropsychiatrist and poet, and gives a deep insight into the human mind. His verses are recognizable in contemporary Serbian poetry due to their stylistic perfection, hermetic quality and metaphysical insight. His poetry has been translated into more than ten languages and has received prestigious regional awards. An essayist and literary critic as well, he has published eight books of poetry, three books of literary criticism, and a travel book,
Dejan
Trajkoski, from North Macedonia, is a publisher, writer, poet, and editor. He
is the founder and director of the publishing house Prozart Media, the International Literature Festival
PRO-ZA Balkan, and the Skopje Fellowship Program—the first publishing
fellowship in Eastern Europe (and the only one in the region until 2021),
established in 2013. His philosophical novel Infidelity has been
translated into nine languages, including English, German, and Turkish. He published
translations Cecilia’s When the Rainbow
Goddess Wept and her Selected Short
Stories.
From Athens, Dimitris Tsoukatos, heads Lemvos Editions which published
Cecilia’s novel Magdalena. With a strong
background in finance, Dimitris has led the publishing house since 2015 to
publish quality works from young Greek writers and it also translates important
works of world literature.
Publishers who were unable to attend
sent messages.
Dr. Takuya Matsuda, who translated
Cecilia’s World War II novel When the
Rainbow Goddess Wept for Genki Shobou in Tokyo wrote:
“I translated Ms. Brainard’s When the Rainbow
Goddess Wept into Japanese because I wanted readers in Japan to read
and feel this powerful story of war, memory, and resilience in their own
language. In doing so, I hoped to create a bridge between the Philippines and
Japan, two countries with intertwined histories, so that readers may reflect
not only on the traumas of the past but also on the possibilities of empathy
and healing. I believe such reflections are especially important in today’s
world. My wish is that my translation will help foster deeper cross-cultural
dialogue and understanding, and that Ms. Brainard’s moving narrative will
continue to inspire strength and hope in new readers.”
Jale Mammedova from Qanun Publishing House in
Azerbaijan who translated Brainard’s When
the Rainbow Goddess Wept said:
“The
theme of war, sadly, is not unfamiliar to the Azerbaijani people; it is,
rather, a wound that lies painfully close to the heart. Having endured two
devastating wars in the past thirty-five years, the sensitive hearts of
Azerbaijani readers will inevitably be profoundly touched by this novel. No
matter how different traditions and ways of life may be, there are times when
nations separated by vast distances are bound together by the same unspeakable
tragedies – and war is one such force that unites through sorrow. At the same
time, the legends and epics woven into the novel also feel strikingly familiar
to Azerbaijanis… it is hard to label this novel as purely national; it is, in
essence, universal, for the sufferings the author portrays are ones that
peoples across the world have inevitably experienced, in different eras and in
countless forms.”
The event will
be held at the Pilipinas Stage, Philippine Stand, Hall 5.1 A95 & B95,
Frankfurt Book Fair, October 17, at 1 pm. Tina Pangan of the Translation Committee of the National Book Development Board will give
the welcome and closing remarks.
For further
information, please contact palhbooks@gmail.com.
~end~
tags: #FBM25 #GOH2025 #imaginationPeoplestheAir #PHLGOH2025
#booksphilippines #Frankfurtbookfair #Frankfurterbuchmesse #PhilippinesGuestofHonour #nbdbphilippines
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