Filipino American Writer
Books, reviews and literary goings-onOut now: “My Filipino Connection: The Philippines in Hollywood”
Title: My Filipino Connection: The Philippines in Hollywood
Author: Ruben V. Nepales
Publisher: Anvil
Details: Collection of the author’s pieces that appeared in his column in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, “Only in Hollywood.”
More information: Anvil, National Bookstore
Filipina writers lend their voices to Women’s History Month celebration
Front row, seated, from left: Myrna J. de la Paz,
Linda Nietes of Philippine Expressions Bookshop
and Aurora S. Cudal; Middle row, from left: Ludy
Astraquillo Ongkeko, Carina Monica Montoya,
Roselyn Estepa Ibanez, Cecilia Manguerra
Brainard and Ofelia V. Dirige; Back row, from
left: Carlene Sobrino Bonnivier, Lorenzo Paran
III and Jay Wertz.
By Lorenzo Paran III
To celebrate Women’s History Month, Philippine Expressions Bookshop served up a tasty afternoon of talks by Filipina writers and fine food that satisfied guests’ literary and gustatory appetites and yet somehow also left them hungry for more.
The bookseller held “Pinay Gathering: A Celebration of Women’s History Month Honoring Filipino American Women Authors” on Saturday (March 31, 2012) at Pizza Per Tutti Pizzeria & Tratoria in Toluca Lake, Calif. The luncheon spotlighted the authors of two new releases: Ofelia V. Dirige and Aurora S. Cudal, who have just released a revised and expanded edition of their popular Global Filipino Cuisine: Healthy Recipes; and prolific fictionist and essayist Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, whose most recent title, Out of Cebu: Essays and Personal Prose, is also now available.
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When a Filipino comes home: New anthology opens door to understanding Fil-Ams
BOOK REVIEW
Title: Hanggang sa Muli: Homecoming Stories for the Filipino Soul
Editor: Reni R. Roxas
Publisher: Tahanan Books
Details: Anthology (memoirs, poems, short stories, essays by Filipino writers about coming home), 252 pages
More information: reni@tahananbooks.com, (425) 773-7465
By Lorenzo Paran III
Filipinos around the world will agree that there’s nothing quite like coming home. Nothing is as poignant or downright sad or joyful than when a Filipino, after spending years overseas, returns to the homeland.
A new book offers fresh testimony to that. Hanggang sa Muli: Homecoming Stories for the Filipino Soul, edited by Reni Roxas, gathers some of the most memorable essays and personal narratives, along with some short stories and poems, written by Filipino writers on the subject of homecoming.
The experience is portrayed in the book as in reality: always memorable, sometimes funny, but often heart-wrenching.
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Out now: “Hanggang sa Muli: Homecoming Stories for the Filipino Soul”
Title: Hanggang sa Muli: Homecoming Stories for the Filipino Soul
Editor: Reni R. Roxas
Publisher: Tahanan Books
Available at: Tahanan Books
Details: Anthology (poems, short stories, essays by Filipino writers about coming home), 252 pages
More information: reni@tahananbooks.com, (425) 773-7465
Read a review of Hanggang sa Muli: Homecoming Stories for the Filipino Soul.
SILENT NO MORE: Book gives voice to Filipino-American ‘bridge’ generation
BOOK REVIEW
Title: Vanishing Filipino Americans: The Bridge Generation
Author: Peter Jamero
Publisher: University Press of America, 2011
Available at: The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group Inc., University Press of America, Amazon
Details: History, 122 pages
More information here.
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By Lorenzo Paran III
Any Filipino-American worth his salt can tell you about the manong generation, the group of mostly single Filipino males that in the 1920s and 30s began the great wave of Filipino immigration into the U.S. in the 20th century. But, chances are, he would be unable to tell you about the generation that came next, composed of the manongs’ children, who would help bring about the acceptance of Filipinos into mainstream American society.
But anyone can be forgiven for not knowing much about—or even being aware of—these Filipino-Americans (indeed they were the first Filipino-Americans) because they have largely been ignored by historians. That is, until now.
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