LA Book launch for ‘Growing Up Filipino 3′

LOS ANGELES — Filipino American author and publisher Cecilia Manguerra Brainard will have a book launch for Growing Up Filipino 3: New Stories for Young Adults on March 18 hosted by the Carlos Bulosan Book Club.

Brainard is the book’s editor, of which collects 25 short stories by Filipino authors in the U.S. and the Philippines on what it means to be young and Filipino.

Joining her is Filipino American Marilyn Alquizola, one of the book’s contributors. Writer Ryo Alfar will represent his mother Nikki Alfar, a Filipino speculative fictionist who is also a contributor to the book.

Attendees will have the opportunity to share their own stories and memories of their youth at the gathering after the writers’ presentations.

The Carlos Bulosan Book Club was established in 2017 by the Friends of Echo Park Branch Library. This branch of the Los Angeles Public Library is located in the heart of Historic Filipinotown and houses a dedicated Philippine Heritage Collection that consists of several hundred volumes on Filipino American life and culture.

The event will also have a Zoom component and will be livestreamed on the club’s Facebook page. A book signing will follow after a Q&A.

Growing series

The book’s stories explore the universal themes of coming-of-age, love, angst, family, relationships, and other young adult issues. The stories reveal Filipino and Filipino American culture, mores, history, society, politics, and other nuances. For instance, Filipino respect for their elders, extended families, religious practices, funeral rites, and love for folklore are apparent in the stories.

The first two titles in this series, Growing Up Filipino: Stories For Young Adults (2003) and Growing Up Filipino II: More Stories For Young Adults (2010), were included in National Geographic’s Reading List in 2020. Used by educators in their classrooms, these books are enjoyed by adults and young adults alike.

Other contributors include Brainard herself, Gina Apostol, Patrick Joseph Caoile, Ian Casocot, Noelle de Jesus, George Deoso, Migs Bravo Dutt, James Fajarito, Yvette Fernandez, Patricia Go, Sarge Lacuesta, Zak Linmark, Veronica Montes, Kannika Pena, Oscar Peñaranda, Danton Remoto, Brian Ascalon Roley, Renee Macalino Rutledge, Dom Sy, Eileen Tabios, Linda Ty-Casper, Marianne Villanueva and Jack Wigley.

Other events

Alquizola was born in San Francisco and has taught Asian American Literature at several universities. Her parents, just like Brainard, are from Cebu province in the Philippines.

Brainard is the author of When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, Magdalena, and The Newspaper Widow. She oversees publishing imprint Philippine American Literary House.

Later in the month, she will attend a talk and reading at the Los Angeles Central Library’s Teen’scape young adult department. Slated to join her are Ryo Alfar, Alquizola and Fil-Am author Brian Ascalon Roley.

Roley is the author of the novel American Son, short fiction collection The Last Mistress of Jose Rizal: Stories, and short poetry collection Ambuscade.

In April, Brainard will be featured at the ParisLitUp Reading at the Culture Rapide in France.

Echo Park Library is at 1410 W. Temple St., Los Angeles. Email [email protected].