Cecilia Brainard Books Highlighted for Frankfurt Book Fair - Short List

Short List Cecilia Brainard Books Highlighted 

CECILIA MANGUERRA BRAINARD

Fiction Writer-Editor-Publisher

https://ceciliabrainard.com

Cbrainard@gmail.com; cbrainard@aol.com

BIO:

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard is the author and editor of over a dozen books. Cecilia’s writings can also be found in Positively Filipino, CNN, Town and Country, and more. Her work has been widely anthologized and has been translated into Turkish and Finnish.

Cecilia also runs a small press, PALH (Philippine American Literary House) which publishes select fine Filipino and FilAm books, such as Growing Up Filipino, Fiction by Filipinos in America, and more.

For her books and literary work, she has been awarded a 40^th National Book Award, an Outstanding Individual Award from Cebu, a California Arts Council Fellowship, a Brody Arts Fund Fellowship, several travel grants from the US Embassy, an Amazing Alumni Achiever’s Award from Maryknoll College, a Special recognition Award from the Los Angeles (California) Board of Education, and more.

She has taught at the Writers Program at UCLA Extension, the University of Southern California, and UCLA. She gives talks, lectures, and literary readings at universities and arts/literary centers such as the UP Cebu, Cebuano Studies Center, University of Santo Tomas, Los Angeles Library, PEN, Paris Litup, and many more.

The Cebuano Studies Center and the National Commission for Arts and Culture produced a documentary video entitled: The Cebuana in the World: Cecilia Manguerra Brainard Writing Out of Cebu.

She has served as the Executive Board member of PEN USA West, and she represented PEN in international meetings in Barcelona and Santiago de Compostela. She also served as an officer in literary arts groups such as the Midnight Special Cultural Center, Pacific Asian American Women Writers West, Philippine American Women Writers and Arts, and the Arts & Letters at the Cal State University in LA.

SHORT STORY COLLECTION

SELECTED SHORT STORIES BY CECILIA MANGUERRA BRAINARD

Winner 40^th National Book Award and Cirilo Bautista Prize for the Novel

Finalist Gintong Aklat Award

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard’s short stories cover not just the history of the Philippines – Spanish and American colonial rule, the bloody Marcos era, the high price of fighting for political and economic freedom – but also the deeply moving hesitations and complexities of the human heart: the loves and longings and losses that shape and haunt a life, the sensuality and desires that rip apart the fabric of social life, the intricacies of girlhood and female friendship, the confrontation of cultures, the loneliness and courage of Filipino-Americans and others who have left their homelands and the idea of home. Beautifully written, masterfully crafted, these stories are at once heart-breaking, entertaining, and profoundly humane — very difficult to put down, impossible to forget. ~ Reine Arcache Melvin, NovelistAuthor: Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

 Author: Cecilia Manguerrra Brainard

ISBN: 978-971-506-8710 (University of Santo Tomas Publishing House)

ISBN: 978-1-954716-01-9 (PALH)

NOVEL

THE NEWSPAPER WIDOW

Finalist for the 37^th National Book Award

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

This is a literary mystery set in the Philippines in 1909, shortly after the Spaniards lost to the Americans and the Americans occupied the Philippines. The widow Ines and the French seamstress Melisande solve the crime of the dead priest in the creek to free the son of Ines from jail.

“What follows is part detective story and part historical fiction, set in the Philippines seven years after the conclusion of the Philippine-American War (1899–1902) that cemented U.S. occupation of the islands. The mystery elements are competently plotted, and the characters appealing, and there’s a charming long-distance romance, with a hint of another yet to come. The book’s signal virtue, though, is its bighearted look at Filipino culture and society in 1909. ~ David Keymer, Library Journal

Author: Cecilia Manguerrra Nrainard

ISBN: 978-971-506-811-6 (University of Santo Tomas Publishing House)

ISBN: 078-1-053716-14-9 (PALH)

Greek and Serbian rights sold 

For Translations rights, contact the author cbrainard@gmail.com

 

NOVEL

MAGDALENA

Rarely have I read such exquisite command of storytelling as I see in the pages of this novel. Here she uses the backdrop of a Japanese-occupied Philippines to maximum effect, devastating the reader’s emotions without giving any quarter nor taking any prisoners. You die inside and come to life again when the feelings of hope hit you—and they will. ~ Alma Anonas-Carpio, Philippine Graphic

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 Review

 Author: Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

ISBN: 978-971-506-801-7 (University of Santo Tomas Publishing House)

ISBN: 978-1-953716-11-8 (PALH)

Greek rights sold

 

NOVEL

WHEN THE RAINBOW GODDESS WEPT 

Cecilia Brainard’s debut novel is the tearful, seldom-told story of the Japanese invasion of the Philippines during World War II as seen through the eyes of a young Filipino girl. The many hardships that 9‑year-old Yvonne Macaraig and her family are faced with teach her the value of hope and endurance…

Brainard’s wonderful novel shows how war brings out the best and the worst in people as it describes both the atrocities and the heroics that befall her characters. The novel’s theme, the vast cost of war on the human spirit is illustrated well by Yvonne’s tragic loss of innocence. In the words of her grandfather, Lolo Peping: “Before man sinned, he was innocent. Man’s original sin wasn’t eating the forbidden fruit; it was Cain’s murder of his brother. ~ Associated Press

 Author: Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

ISBN: 978-0-472-08637-5 9 (University of Michigan Press – Ann Arbor)

ISBN: 978-971-506-842-0 (University of Santo Tomas Publishing House)

Turkish translation- out of print

Tags:
#2024FrankfurtBookFair  #Frankfurt Burkmessse

Typhoon Gaeimi Floods Manla - News and Story

Photo courtesy of Emmie Abadilla, FB

 July 25, 2024: Because of Typhoon Gaeimi (or Carina in the Philippines), Manila is flooded. It is one of the worst floods, with several major roads chest-high with floodwaters. 

I am reading about the flooding there when I remembered this short story "Flooded" by Rogelio Cruz, which is part of the anthology GROWING UP FILIPINO: STORIES FOR YOUNG ADULTS (Ed. Cecilia Brainard). This is a more light-hearted look at Manila's flood. 

FLOODED

Rogelio Cruz

Manila was strange. It yielded not the usual parallel city streets and consecutively-numbered blocks, but triangles, circles, and other haphazard spaces that brushed at the ends of one’s nerves pleasantly. Fritz suspected that the original plan, a century ago, was affluence: sparse black-and-gray vehicles trudging narrow roads on a damp and drowsy Sunday morning, open-air orchestras, an aviary, the Sky Room. The skeleton of it was still there; but its once white and pastel flesh was now bloated with the sweet-rotten color and smell of poverty, of phlegm and urine in the open gutters. The dainty roads now proved to be traffic hell; the corner statues and whores were curses to each other — because of one, the other had too little space. Worst of all, when the rain struck it blind and flushed all the filth the cavities of its dying buildings never ran out of, the city drowned in a sick fluid the color of coffee and milk.

Fritz and Jan were caught in the flashflood. When they left Rizal Memorial after watching the basketball tournament, it was sunny and humid; then the sun died like a lighted match thrown into a ditch, and the slick, damp, rueful silver of rain clouds drained everything of all their color. The view from their windshield shifted quick as the next slide on a carousel, with a blinding white sheet of rain the intermediate frame: the next thing Jan knew, he was keeping his foot on the gas so the water wouldn’t get into the muffler as they trudged Rizal Avenue. Along its deepest portion they even saw a yellow kayak speeding past them. The chaos of the city and the chaos of the weather were one. It signified the nearing of the end, they thought, when God just might opt to destroy this pathetic place, and start all over again.

They ended up at Gov. Forbes. It was strangled with cars, and they didn’t move for an hour and a half. Jan decided to create a counterflow. He wedged his car out sharply from the gridlock and sped down the opposite lane, but to no avail: the intersection was impossible to pass, and he had nowhere else to go. He retreated.

This lane of Gov. Forbes was empty. It was the only road that was passable at all; and though it led away from Jan’s and Fritz’s destination, and to unlit, stranger parts of the city, it gave, especially if one did not stare out too far, the illusion that it was the way home. For a moment, Jan seemed to have given in to this illusion: he sped down the lane, until he reached the end of the paved part. Then he hesitated as he realized they were about to enter a colony of shanties, that seemed to be slowly sinking into mud, lighted only by whatever threads of blue moonlight could escape from the dense sky.

Creative Writing Tips by Fiction Writer Cecilia Brainard

 

I'm sharing Creative Writing Tips that I've developed after writing, editing of over 20 books. I have been teaching and lecturing about Creative Writing for decades. My official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom.

Creative Writing Tips # 1- Write in a Sensuous Way

Creative Writing Tip #2 - Make a Date with Your Muse

Creative Writing Tip #3 - Show Don't Tell 

Creative Writing Tip #4 -  Writer's Block

Creative Writing Tip #5 - Complex vs Flat Characters

Creative Writing Tip #6 - Writing Space

Creative Writing Tip #7 - What Is Your Story?

Tags: how to write, creative writing, creative writing journey, fiction writing

Manny Gonzalez on the Palestine Crisis

SPOTLIGHT ON MANNY GONZALEZ 

Manny Gonzalez, who is noted for being the CEO and principal owner of the the famous resort in Mactan Cebu, Plantation Bay, is also a writer. He writes of his travels, of food, and he also explores complex international issues such as the current Palestine crisis. 

 

 He has written about this problem -- he is a columnist at the Philippine Star --- and he has also created a four part video.  You can watch "The Non-Zero-Sum Solution to the Palestine Crisis" here:  

https://plantationbay.com/palestine 

OR:  

Video 1: Prisoners of their Expertise 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfFd6VI05wg

Video 2: Not Two-States-Side-by-Side, but Two States Far Apart !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gec5C-4dC4

Video 3: If We Build New Palestine, They Will Come

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6FHxgTTBKQ 

 

Here also is his link to his articles at the Philippine Star

 - https://www.philstar.com/authors/1487493/manny-gonzalez

Read also:

Highlights of J. Manuel Gonzalez Resume 

But who, really, is Manny Gonzalez

My Cousin, The Biz Wiz: Profile on Manny Gonzalez 

Certificates of Recognition - Cecilia Brainard

I have not been diligent in documenting Certificates of Recognition that I've received. Here are some recent ones: from the Cebuano Studies Center, Philippine Embassies in D.C. and Jedda, CTU, UP Cebu, CTU, Miriam College. LEAP, Capiz State U.

I'll add any more I find in my filing cabinet. Many thanks to the various institutions for the recognition.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

tags: Philippine awards, Filipino awards and recognition

 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - Cecilia Brainard' Fiction - My Mother's Skirts

 

I wish all my readers the best this holiday season! Blessings to you and your loved ones.

I am sharing with you a poem that appeared in the November 2024 issue of the Philippine Graphic.  I do not always write poetry so this is "rare" if you will. Further, the Graphic, along with Focus Philippines and Mr. & Ms. were some of the magazines that published my early writings, and so this publication of "My Mother's Skirts" is special to me.

You can still get a copy of the November 2023 Graphic from Lazada.  To those abroad, I am sharing this snapshot of the cover and page with my story. 

Tags: Christmas story, Cecilia Brainard poems, Philippine literature,  Cebuano literature 

Interview of Author Cecilia Brainard by Lennie Jean Panugaling

 

Interview of Cecilia Brainard by Lennie Jean Panugaling from Carcar City College

Language Research Subject “The Heart of Cecilia Manguerra’s Masterpieces”

Stories studied: A Very Short Story, Flying a Kite, My Mother Is Dying

Hello Lennie Jean,

Thank you for the interview. I recommend that you also do research about my work aside from the three short shorts. Recommended links:

https://ceciliabrainard.com/   (Check out interviews and sources)

https://cbrainard.blogspot.com/ (On the side are “Cecilia Brainard Fiction” for more stories that you can read, including novel excerpts)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLo3H-Pdy1g&t=355s  (The Cebuana in the World: Cecilia Manguerra Brainard Writing Out of Cebu. Watch documentary, and please “Like” on Youtube. Thank you.)

Interviewer: Yesterday, our panelists were excited to find out that you responded to me on Facebook, leaving them intrigued about the prevalence of heartbreak in your stories. As you navigate the creative process, what influences or thoughts guide you to infuse your narratives with poignant emotions? Are personal painful memories a significant source of inspiration for you?

Cecilia Brainard:  You have chosen three of my stories referred to as Fast Fiction or Short Shorts, meaning each story is under a thousand words long. Stories this short are written in a precise way, with each word having relevance in the story. In some ways, they are almost like poetry.

Why do my stories deal with poignant emotions? Are personal painful memories a significant source of inspiration for me?

 Two important elements of story telling are “character” and “conflict”. If you analyze good stories, you will find that there is a main character who has some kind of conflict or problem. The story revolves around how the character deals with the conflict. Stories will involve the emotions of the characters. There are other elements in storytelling like plot, dialogue, voice, and so on, but I’m focusing on these two elements in order to answer your question. If you write of a character who doesn’t have conflict, who is perfectly happy for instance, you will not have a story. A character without conflict or a problem will have no challenges; he/she will not be motivated to do anything; your written work will be static or will meander and boring.

            This is why when I work with my characters, when I am figuring out their stories, I have to find out what their conflicts/problems are. And I have to find out how my characters will respond to these conflicts (or stresses). The decisions they make in response to their conflicts constitute what we call plot. Their emotional reactions and changes are called character development (or character arc); and this is what makes the piece feel like a story.

            To answer your second question about whether personal painful memories are a significant source of inspiration for me: I don’t rely solely on my memories for inspiration, but draw from history, from folklore, from personal observation of the people I have come across. For instance, my first novel When the Rainbow Goddess is about World War Two in the Philippines. I used many stories I heard from my parents in this novel. I have many stories that have been inspired by my childhood in Cebu, and these stories integrate memories of the people I knew or had seen and my own personal life.

 Check out the documentary about me The Cebuana in the World: Cecilia Manguerra Brainard Writing Out of Cebu – see link above. The documentary will give you an idea of the various stories I tell and where they come from.

Interview of Author Cecilia Brainard by Cris Al Maglinte Cagoscos

 

For Cris Al Maglinte Cagoscos & Classmates

Cebu Technology University-Moalboal Campus

“Literary Analysis: Narrative Strategies and Cultural Implications in Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

Short Stories”

Re "Flip Gothic" and "Woman with Horns", we would like to ask what inspired and motivated you to write these two stories and how they relate to your past experiences.

Hi, Cris,

Thank you and your classmates for your interest.

I highly recommend that you do some research as well about my work – see links below, and there are more links listed in my official website. 

Recommended Links:

https://ceciliabrainard.com/ - Click on “About” and check out Interviews and Sources

The Cebuana in the World: Cecilia Manguerra Brainard Writing Out of Cebu - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLo3H-Pdy1g&t=355s

Visit and search “Woman With Horns” and “Flip Gothic” in my blog: https://cbrainard.blogspot.com/

Re Woman with Horns

Woman with Horns was one of my earlier short stories when I was interested in the historical background of Cebu, albeit transformed as Ubec in my imagination. In schools I had been taught that “Magellan discovered the Philippines” which I realized was a fallacy because the Philippines had people way before Magellan showed up. In other words that statement “Magellan discovered the Philippines” was coming from a Eurocentric point of view. I was keenly aware of the Western orientation in the Philippines, by the books we read, the movies that we saw, the music that we danced to, our awe at American or European cultures.

Travel - 15-day Cruise Princess Cruise to Hawaii

 

I am incredibly behind with my blogging, so I've gone ahead and posted some pictures taken during our 15-day Princess Cruise to Hawaii. I'll try to fill in later on, in the meantime, enjoy the pictures. 

Ports of Call: Los Angeles, Big Island (Hilo), Oahu (Honolulu), Kauai (Kawiliwili Harbor), Big Island (Kona), Ensenada

Travel - San Miguel De Allende: A Mexican Heritage

 

For your weekend reading, take a trip to Mexico and read "San Miguel De Allende: A Mexican Heritage Jewel" by Cecilia Brainard, published in Positively Filipino.

Please "like" at the bottom of the

article. Thank you and have a great weekend coming up!

https://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/san-miguel-de-allende-a-mexican-heritage-jewel 

 

Tags: Mexico travel, SMA travel, San Miguel travel, holiday, Mexican holiday 

Growing Up Filipino 3 Finalist for 41st National Book Awards

 

I just learned that the book, GROWING UP FILIPINO 3 is a finalist for the 41st National Book Award (Anthology, English). 

I am grateful to the National Book Development Board – Philippines, Manila Critics Circle, UST Publishing House, and contributors to the anthology:

 

Gina Apostol, Kannika Pena, Jack Wigley, Veronica Montes, Nikki Alfar, Yvette Fernandez, Danton Remoto, Cecilia Brainard, George Deoso, Patricia Manuel Go, Migs Bravo Dutt, Ian Casocot, James Fajarito, Sarge Lacuesta, Dom Sy, Eileen Tabios, Marianne Villanueva, Marilyn Alquizola, Brian Roley, Patrick Joseph Caoile, Zak Linmark, Linda Ty-Casper, Renee Macalino Rutledge, Noelle De Jesus, and Oscar Penaranda.

 

The anthology Growing Up Filipino 3 is available from the UST bookstore, Lazada, Shopee, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble. Look for it at Fully Booked as well.

 

For Book Reviews about Growing Up Filipino 3 - please click here: 

 

Tags: Filipino YA books, Filipino YA fiction, FilAm literature, FilAm YA, Filipino teens, Filipino youths, Filipino American youths

Excerpt from THE INVENTOR by Eileen R. Tabios

 

Following is an excerpt from Eileen R. Tabios' recent book, The Inventor. It is reprinted with her permission. 

~ 

Marsh Hawk Press’ Introduction of THE INVENTOR by Eileen R. Tabios:

In 2023, Marsh Hawk Press releases Eileen R. Tabios’ THE INVENTOR, a unique project for providing insights into creating poetic forms against an autobiographical background and part of our “Chapter One” series acclaimed by Publishers Weekly for presenting the writers’ craft in real life. From Eileen R. Tabios: “I wrote THE INVENTOR, not because it’s about my life but, because it’s an autobiography that connects history, language, and poetry in a unique way beyond narratives. I learned English because it became widespread in my birth land, the Philippines, through U.S. colonialism. That caused me, as a young poet, to feel estranged from my raw material: English. My poetry practice, however, would lift me out of politics to meet poetry more directly as its own type of language. Ultimately, my prolonged engagement with poetry enabled me to create poetry inventions that metaphorically disrupts colonialism by generating communities of readers and writers worldwide. These inventions include the hay(na)ku which has spread globally among poets and the “Flooid” whose pre-writing condition precedent of a “good deed” makes poetry live redemptively and beyond the page. In THE INVENTOR, I show how Poetry is not mere words but a proactive approach to improving our relationships with each other and life on our planet.”

BOOK LINK TO THE INVENTOR: https://eileenrtabios.com/prose-collections/the-inventor/

John Hanley - Irish American Friend

 

We lost a friend, John Hanley. For years, John played golf with my husband, and they had great fun at the course and at the pub afterwards. Guinness was John's favorite.

When we visited Ireland in 2008, John (who was born in Ireland) happened to be there, and he met us for a day. Knowing I was a Marian devotee, he brought us to the Basilica of Our Lady of Knock.  From Knock, we visited his cousin who has a peat-burning stove.  He explained how families were entitled to digging peat for their use. We had tea and talked and had a very lovely time. 

Not too long ago, John got ill and passed away.  We are very sad about this and extend our sincerest condolences to his family and friends. 

Here are some pictures taken in Ireland with John.  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Rest in peace, John Hanley!

 tags: RIP, friendship, Irish American

Gintong Aklat Finalist - Selected Short Stories by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

 My collection SELECTED SHORT STORIES BY CECILIA MANGUERRA BRAINARD is a Finalist for the Gintong Aklat Award 2022 (fiction in English). The same book won the 40th National Book Award (Short Fiction English).

 

If you are going to the 44th Manila International Fair, please look for my book at the booth of the publisher University of Santo Tomas Publishing House

In the Philippines look for the book on Lazada and Shopee as well. You can find the book in Amazon, Barnes and Noble for an easy purchase.

Selected Short Stories by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard collects 39 of the Filipina American author’s short fiction. The collection includes some of her best short fiction, including stories that deal with fictional Manila and Mexico, Intramuros and Acapulco, Ubec and Cebu.

Selected Short Stories includes a very long story (one would call it a novella), “Melisande in Paris”, which is about the French seamstress who appears in Cecilia’s third novel, The Newspaper Widow. Melisande is the friend of the protagonist in the literary mystery The Newspaper Widow. Melisande and Ines solve the crime of the dead priest in Ubec’s creek. But Melisande had a whole other story back in Paris before she went to Ubec. “Melisande in Paris” is that story.

For more information about the book, please click on this site:

https://ceciliabrainard.com/book/selected-short-stories-by-cecilia-manguerra-brainard/

Tags: Filipino books, Filipino authors, Pinoy books, FilAm books, Philippine literature, Filipino book awards