TRAVELS (and more) WITH CECILIA BRAINARD: Watchman

Showing posts with label Watchman. Show all posts

Friday, September 4, 2015

'Watchman' a Disservice to Author Harper Lee

l-r: Eve La Salle Caram, Cecilia Brainard

I was in Costco recently where I saw a pile of hardcover copies of Harper Lee's new-old novel Go Set a Watchman. I picked up a copy, but decided not to buy it. I had read that this novel is set in the 1950s with Scout as an adult and her father Atticus Finch an older man, and -- a racist. Further, the other characters in the second novel aren't that likable and the writing is poorly done.

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.