On October 17, 2025, at 1 pm at the Frankfurt Book Fair, seven international publishers and I will gather at the Pilipinas Stage, Philippine Stand Hall 5.1 A95 & B95 to celebrate the translations they have done of my fiction.
Unfortunately Dimitris Tsoukatos head of Lemvos Editions can't be at the Oct 17 Celebration of Cecilia Brainard's translations.
He has this message to share:
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October 17, 2025
Good morning, friends, colleagues, and distinguished guests.
It is a great honor to stand before you today to celebrate the works of Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, and in particular to speak about Magdalena, which Lemvos Editions has the privilege to be translating into Greek.
Cecilia is one of the most significant voices in Philippine literature. Across her more than twenty books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, and Magdalena, she explores how personal and collective histories intertwine. Her writing carries the tenderness of memory, the resilience of women, and the weight of a nation’s past.
When I first read Magdalena, I was immediately drawn into its world — a world shaped by love, loss, and the lingering effects of war. Cecilia’s storytelling is both intimate and expansive; through the lives of her characters, she speaks of the human condition in a way that feels deeply familiar, even to us in Greece. The emotions, the struggles, and the quiet courage of her women could easily belong to our own mothers and grandmothers.
I remember thinking, as I turned the last page, that Magdalena was not just a Philippine story — it was a universal one, filled with emotions and experiences that could easily belong to readers in Greece. The themes of love, loss, resilience, and the quiet strength of women resonated deeply with me. As I read, I could already imagine how Greek readers would connect with Cecilia’s prose — how vividly they would see the world she created, and how closely it would speak to their own experiences of history, love, and sacrifice. It was clear to me that this is a story that deserves to be shared in Greek.
Cecilia’s work also reflects the richness of a multilingual and multicultural reality — moving effortlessly among English, Spanish, and Cebuano, while evoking the broader connections between Asia, Europe, and America. Translating Magdalena into Greek means not only transferring words from one language to another, but also preserving that rich tapestry of voices and cultures that make her writing so distinctive.
At Lemvos Editions, we believe that translation is one of the most powerful forms of cultural dialogue. Through Magdalena, Greek readers will discover a new perspective on history and humanity — one that deepens our appreciation for the universality of human experience. In this way, translation does not only expand readership; it expands understanding.
On behalf of Lemvos Editions, I want to express my deep gratitude to Cecilia Manguerra Brainard for entrusting us with her novel, and to thank the translators, editors, and colleagues who are bringing this project to life. I also extend my appreciation to our fellow publishers and literary friends here today, who, through their work, remind us that literature knows no borders.
Let us continue to celebrate voices like Cecilia’s — voices that remind us of the enduring power of stories to connect people, cultures, and hearts across the world.
Thank you.
DIMITRIOS TSOUKATOS
Στάλθηκε από
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BIO: Dimitris Tsoukatos!
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Celebrating Translations of Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's Fiction
Tags: #nbdb #FBM2025 #fbm25 #PHLGoh #GoH2025 #philippinesfrankfurt2025 #imaginationpeoplestheair #Greekpublisher #Greektranslation , Greek publisher
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