“I write for an audience that enjoys literary fiction”

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard has written three novels: When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, Magdalena, and The Newspaper Widow. Her Selected Short Stories won the 40th National Book Award and Cirilo F. Bautista Prize. She has received an Outstanding Individual Award from Cebu Philippines, a California Arts Council Fellowship, a Brody Arts Fund, several travel grants from the US Embassy, among others.Her work has been translated into Turkish and Finnish, and three translations of her novels are forthcoming in Greek, Serbian, and Japanese. She has also taught at UCLA, USC, the California State Summer School for the Arts, the Writers’ Program at UCLA Extension. She has served as Executive Board member and Officer of PEN, PAAWWW (Pacific Asian American Women Writers West), Arts & Letters at the Cal State University LA, PAWWA (Philippine American Woman Writers and Artists), among others.She also runs a small press, PALH or Philippine American Literary House which publishes select Filipino and Filam books.

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, author and editor of over 22 books, shares more about her journey as an author. Excerpts.

Journey as a writer…

“My family in Cebu Philippines had a library filled with books and magazines. I read and I also loved local folklore, stories about witches and enchanted beings. I also enjoyed the old radio soap operas and stories about local folk. The writing started with the daily theme writings at school. Then, when my father died when I was nine, I wrote him letters to update him of my life. Later, my sister gave me a lock and key diary in which I first wrote my musings and poems. The journal writing became a habit, which I continue to do. Later, I wrote stories that were published in a school magazine and in some Philippine magazines. I honed my craft when I was older and took writing classes at the Writers’ Program at UCLA Extension where I taught for over 25 years. It was during this time and afterwards, when my books started to get published,” tells Cecilia.

On published works…

“My three novels were the most challenging and so I am probably most proud of them.The first,When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, is a coming of age story of a young girl during World War Two in the Philippines. This was inspired by real experiences my parents had during the Second World War. My second novel, Magdalena, tells the stories of three generations of Filipino women whose lives have been affected by wars—the Philippine American War, World War Two, and the Vietnam War.

This novel, described as erotic and tragic, is written in the fragmented style and is a favorite among poets, feminists, and academics,” she shares.

“My third novel, The Newspaper Widow, was inspired by my greatgrandmother who was the first woman publisher in the Philippines. It’s a part-detective, part-historical novel set in the Philippines in 1909, shortly after the Spaniards (who colonized the Philippines) lost to the Americans and the Americans occupied the Philippines.The bottom-line is I write for an audience that enjoys literary fiction,” she adds.

On translations of her books into Turkish and Finnish…

“It makes me feel proud to share information via my stories about the Philippines, its people, culture, and history. Many people know little about the Philippines. Sometimes, all they know is that Filipinos make lumpia, or that we are nurses. The truth is that the Philippines has a long history and a rich culture that can be quite fascinating,” she adds.

“The theme of the Philippines as Guest of Honor at the 2025 Frankfurt Book Fair is: “The Imagination Peoples the Air.” Now, more than ever, the Philippines desires to fill the air (the world) with our Filipino stories. It makes me happy that my stories help my country meet this goal by being translated into different languages.

Aside from the Turkish translation of When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, there is forthcoming Japanese translation of this novel. Further Magdalena will be translated into Greek and Serbian; and The Newspaper Widow will also be translated into Serbian. It will be a joyful time to celebrate these translations at the Frankfurt Book Fair this October 2025,” adds Cecilia.

On PALH (Philippine American Literary House)…

“PALH or Philippine American Literary House came about because of a scarcity of Filipino and Filipino American books in the United States, this despite the fact that there are around 5 million Filipinos Americans. PALH is small and can only publish few titles; but I do my best to make available important anthologies such as the three Growing Up Filipino Stories for Young Adults, which are used by educators in the US and the Philippines,” shares Cecilia.

Challenges running a press…

“Put simply, PALH is a labor of love. PALH should actually be a nonprofit. However, since I am also a writer and don’t have the time to deal with the bureaucracies of establishing and running a non-profit establishment, I operate PALH on my own and try to keep it as sustainable as possible,” she shares.

Selecting the works to publish at PALH…

“Because of limited funding and my own limitations of time, I have to choose my titles carefully. Basically I publish only books that I love and believe in. I enjoy working on anthologies because I feel I’m helping give voice to a larger group of Filipinos or Filipino Americans. My current book project is tentatively titled How I Became a Writer: Essays by Filipino and Filipino American Writers,” she says.“I am also working on the memoir of the noted Filipino author Linda Ty-Casper. Lives Remembered, A Memoir is the third book of Linda Ty-Casper that PALH is publishing.

Regarding her other two books (A River, One Woman-Deep: Stories and Will You Happen, Past the Silence, Through the Dark: Remembering Leonard Ralph Casper), I connected the author to Philippine publishers for Philippine editions of these titles, thus widening the readership” she shares.

Advice to emerging writers from marginalized backgrounds…

“There is a tendency for emerging writers to think a writer is successful only if published by big publishing houses. This is not true. The number one job of a writer is to create the best stories that he/she can.When the story is done, submit them not just to the big houses but also to small or specialized publishers (online included). Further, writers should create their own opportunities. One can create a co-op; one can create an online zine or blog, for instance,” concludes Cecilia.