Coming soon: Author Cecilia Brainard Gives Talks in Jackson, TN

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

               FROM THE JACKSON SUN NEWSPAPER: 

Santa Monica, California-based writer Cecilia Brainard co-founded Philippine American Women Writers and Artists and teaches creative writing at UCLA. On April 22, she will lecture on the influence of Filipino history and culture in American literature at St. Mary’s Catholic Church at 6 p.m.

On April 23 at 1 p.m. Brainard will speak at the library as part of the Spring Literary Symposium in partnership with the West Tennessee Fil-Am Association.

“I’m actually very impressed that the people in Tennessee have arranged this, and because of what’s happening in the world — in Brussels and in Paris — and thinking of the Muslim community there that hasn’t been integrated well, I think it’s wonderful the people of Tennessee are going out of their way to reach out to the Filipino-American community,” Brainard said.

Brainard said as a Filipino-American, seeing the two dynamic cultures merge is a challenge. English is not her first language, and it took a while to find her voice as a writer.

“When I started writing stories, they would come out in English, but the subject matter was set in the Philippines,” she said. “As a writer you don’t really limit yourself. I’ve seen a lot, and I try to express that in my writing.”

Reach Danica at (731) 425-9643. Follow her on Twitter: @danicasmithwick
~~~~~

2016 Second Annual Literary Symposium, Jackson Tennessee

Sponsored by the Friends of the Jackson-Madison County Public Library

Fri. April 22 - 6 p.m. Brainard talk "The Impact of Filipino History and Culture Upon American Literature" at St. Mary's Catholic Church, 1665 Highway 45 Bypass, Jackson

Sat. April 23

     Breakfast meeting with West TN FilAm Group

     1:00-2:30 p.m.  - Brainard Talk at the Library

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• Tags: Jackson, Tennessee, library, symposium, students, Filipinos, Filipino Americans, books, literature, Filipino-American, FilAm, powerpoint

    This is all for now,

     Cecilia

Syria: Raqqa Syrian Journalists Killed

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In retaliation, ISIL has been liquidating RBSS members, calling them spies. A month after RBSS began their work, Al-Moutaz Bellah Ibrahim was kidnapped and killed by ISIL. On October 30, 2015, Ibrahim Abdul Kader and his friend Fares Hammadi were stabbed and beheaded in Urfa, Turkey. On December 16, 2015, Ahmad Mohammed Al Mousa was murdered in Idlib, Syria.

Philippine Literature: The Centenary of N.V.M. Gonzalez

L-R: Vince Gotera, Virginia Cerenio, N.V.M. Gonzalez, Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, William Oandasan

The centenary of the Filipino National Artist for Literature, N.V.M. Gonzalez was celebrated last September 8, 2015. Dr. Adelaida F. Lucero from the University of the Philippines had invited me to write a tribute, which she included with others and which she shared at the university celebration. The following is what I wrote: