Danielle Nicole Saguindel 21st Century Literature

12 GAS October 13, 2022

Visayas Literature
“Cecilia Manguerra Brainard”
Award-winning novelist Cecilia Manguerra Brainard has also edited 19 books.
She created both the Philippine American Literary House and PAWWA, or
Philippine American Women Writers and Artists. The World War II novel When the
Rainbow Goddess Wept, Magdalena, and Woman With Horns and Other Stories are
among Brainard's works. She was the editor of various anthologies, including
Growing Up Filipino I and II, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and
Fiction by Filipinos in America.
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, the youngest of Concepcion Cuenco Manguerra
and Mariano F. Manguerra's four children, was born in Cebu City, Philippines, in
1947. She began writing when she was nine years old, initially in diaries, then
moved on to essays and fiction. She studied for her masters degree at UCLA after
attending St. Theresa's College and Maryknoll College in the Philippines. A Special
Recognition Award from the Los Angeles Board of Education was given to Brainard
for her work with Asian American adolescents. She has also won accolades from
the California State Senate, 21st District, many USIS Grants, a California Arts Council
Fellowship, an Outstanding Individual Award from the City of Cebu, Philippines, a
Brody Arts Fund Award, a City of Los Angeles Cultural grant, and numerous other
honors. The publications she has authored and edited have also received honors,
including the International Gourmand Award and the Gintong Aklat Award. Finnish
and Turkish translations of her works exist. The writer Jocelyn Deona de Leon was
inspired by Brainard's second book, Magdalena, to create a theatrical production
called Gabriela's Monologue, which was presented in 2011 by the Bindlestiff Studio
in San Francisco as a part of Stories XII! yearly event exhibiting creative theatrical
works by American-born Filipino and Pilipino artists. Among other publications,
Brainard's articles may be found in Town and Country, Zee Lifestyle Magazine,
Focus Philippines, Philippine Graphic, Amerasia Journal, and Bamboo Ridge. She
has had her stories collected in publications like Making Waves (1989), Songs of
Ourselves (1994), On a Bed of Rice (1995), Pinay: Autobiographical Narratives by
Women Writers, 1926-1998" (Ateneo 2000), "Asian American Literature" (Glencoe
McGraw-Hill 2001), Cherished (New World Library, 2011), and others.