TRAVELS (and more) WITH CECILIA BRAINARD: Michaela Keck

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Opinion: Michaela Keck On the European Refugee Crisis #refugeecrisis

Dr. Michaela Keck

The refugee crisis in Europe has dominated the news ever since the the Syrian child, Aylan Kurdi, drowned. The image of his dead body came to symbolize the refugee crisis in Europe. Daily we read of migrants drowning as they journey across the short but turbulent stretch of the Mediterranean. We read of the tension between the refugees and Hungarian police. We read of the heightening of border control in European countries as they try to figure out how to deal with the surge of asylum seekers.

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.