TRAVELS (and more) WITH CECILIA BRAINARD: India - Philippines Dialogue

Sunday, October 19, 2025

India - Philippines Dialogue - Cecilia Brainard #fbm25

Via Kumar Vikram, Oct. 18, 2025

📚🌏 The India–Philippines Publishing Dialogue at the India Stage, Frankfurt Book Fair 2025, was a vital session for literary cooperation, gaining special significance as the Philippines is this year's Guest of Honour Country. The dialogue was chaired by Prof Milind Sudhakar Marathe (Chairman, National Book Trust, India) and Kumar Vikram (Chief Editor & Joint Director, NBT-India) moderated the session.

Cecilia Brainard (Author & editor of 22 books) shared her personal experience. Her book has been agreed upon by seven publishers and is set for translation into an extraordinary 14 languages, demonstrating the global market for Filipina narratives.

Representing India, C.M. Gosain (Properietor of M/s Friends Publications) articulated the nation's key objective to promote Indian culture globally and expressed the expectation for co-ventures from the Philippines to support mutual industry growth.

Anthony John R. Balisi (Former Director, National Book Development Board, Philippines) provided a comprehensive framework for bilateral trade, emphasizing the necessity of understanding intercultural topics for business expansion.

Prof Dhananjay Singh provided information about the ongoing collaboration between ICSSR and Social Science Council of Philippines. The panelists discussed comparative contemporary English writings of Indian authors and Philippine authors and how they can prove to be the possible bridges of understanding. ✨

L-r: Anthony Balisi, Prashant Pathak

#FrankfurtBookFair2025 #IndiaAtFrankfurt #IndiaStage #ReadAndExploreIndia #NBTIndia #PublishingDialogue #IndiaPhilippines #CulturalExchange #BooksConnectUs

#GoH2025 #ImaginationPeoplestheAir

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.