Cecilia Brainard

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard is the award-winning author and editor of over 20 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, Magdalena, Vigan and Other Stories, Acapulco at Sunset and Other Stories, Philippine Woman in America, Woman With Horns and Other Stories, Cecilia's Diary 1962-1968, Fundamentals of Creative Writing, and Out of Cebu: Essays and Personal Prose. 



She edited four books: Growing Up Filipino I and II, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and Magnificat: Mama Mary's Pilgrim Sites. Cecilia co-edited six books, including Journey of 100 Years: Reflections on the Centennial of Philippine Independence; Behind the Walls: Life of Convent Girls, Ala Carte: Food and Fiction, and Finding God: True Stories of Spiritual Encounters. She has also written a novel with four other women entitled, Angelica's Daughters, a Dugtungan Novel.



Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized. Brainard's second novel, Magdalena inspired a stage play, Gabriela's Monologue (Bindlestiff Studio Production 2011).



Cecilia has received a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, USIS travel grants, a Los Angeles City Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District. She has also been awarded by the Filipino and Filipino American communities she has served: the prestigious Filipinas Magazine Arts Award, the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines. 



She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Beyond Baroque, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others.

Visit her official site at ceciliabrainard.com.  You can also find her in Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter,