TRAVELS (and more) WITH CECILIA BRAINARD: Mohamed Radi (Egyptian Office for Publishing & Distribution) - Publisher Cecilia Brainard's Foreign Translations

Thursday, September 18, 2025

Mohamed Radi (Egyptian Office for Publishing & Distribution) - Publisher Cecilia Brainard's Foreign Translations

Mohamed Radi

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.

To honor these publishers who are working hard to finish their translations for FBM25, I'm going to highlight each one of them in my blog. I'll be posting the covers of the book, in the various editions. If the featured publisher's cover isn't done yet, check back in.

Meet Mohamed Radi!

Cairo-based Mohamed Radi translated Brainard’s three novels -- When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, Magdalena, and The Newspaper Widow -- 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.

When the Rainbow Goddess Wept

A beautifully written novel in which the words flow smoothly across the pages, weaving a story that is half lyrical myth and half brutal reality. Enchanting throughout, this novel will mesmerize the reader right up until its victorious ending. ~ Booklist

Magdalena

"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 author Cecilia Manguerra Brainard as a gifted author with a mastery of storytelling that will keep the reader’s total attention and engagement from first page to last!~ Midwest Book Review

The Newspaper Widow

Finalist for the Philippines 37th National Book Award

Shortlisted for the Inaugural Cirilo F. Bautista Prize for the Novel

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard’s novel is full and complex, overflowing with textured, fully realized characters who drive the story on every page. ~Foreword Reviews

Cover Study of The Newspaper Widow by Super zalozba

Cecilia Brainard Fiction: The One-Night Stand a t the Frankfurt Book Fair

Cecilia Brainard Fiction: After the Ascension

Tags: #nbdb #FBM2025 #fbm25 #PHLGoh #GoH2025 #philippinesfrankfurt2025 #imaginationpeoplestheair #Arabictranslation #Arabicpublisher #Egyptianpublisher #bookArabic

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.