I am happy to announce that the anthology, HOW I BECAME A WRITER 2: ESSAYS BY FILIPINO WRITERS, (Vibal 2026, Ed Cecilia Manguerra Brainard) will be launched in Cebu and in Manila:
Saturday, September 5, 2026, 3 pm — Lost Books Cebu, CAO Mercado Bldg, Osmena Blvd, Cebu City — Editor Cecilia Brainard and Contributor Danton Remoto will be there;
Saturday, September 12, 2026, 5 pm — Vibal launch at the MIBF, Vibal booth (Booth Nos. 189–193 and 204–209, Aisles K & L) Manila International Book Fair 2026 at SMX Convention Center Manila.
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I am sharing my Introduction to the collection. Check out Vicente Rafael’s contribution and a review of the first volume of How I Became a Writer — see Read also at the bottom. The names of the 25 contributors and the blurbs are on the back of the cover, above.
INTRODUCTION
copyright 2026 by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard
THE FIRST VOLUME OF How I Became a Writer: Essays by Filipino Writers, which was released in 2025, grew out of my personal curiosity about how other writers discovered their gift for writing. I wondered how they developed their talent to become the noted writers they now are. I invited my literary writer friends to share in my blog their personal journeys. The 22 authors’ personal stories by established writers revealed a lot about the creative process and at the same time, taught others “how to do it.”
Validation of the strength of the collection came in different forms. Vibal picked it up for publication; it is one of their best sellers. Philippine National Artist in Literature, Resil Mojares, who is reputed for his straight-talking, praised it saying: “How I Became a Writer: Essays by Filipino and Filipino American Writers offers intimate, fine-grained accounts in the making of what constitutes contemporary Philippine literature, provided by a remarkable set of Filipino writers in the Philippines and abroad, It is a book to be treasured.”
Further validation came when my Brazilian publisher picked up the book for translation into Portuguese.
Gratified by the response to Volume 1 of How I Became a Writer, I went on to collect personal essays for Volume 2 of How I Became a Writer. I wanted this second volume to offer something different from the first volume. Aside from testimonials by fiction writers and poets, I wanted to hear the personal stories of non-fiction writers, including journalists, historians, and others, about their challenges and developments, as well as their contributions to Philippine writings.
I sought them out, but I quickly learned that one cannot box writers in categories; writers will write in different genres: a historian can be a journalist, a poet, a playwright, a memoirist, a fiction writer. This anthology includes such authors who write in various genres. The collection also includes playwrights, a chick-lit novelist, and a comic-book writer. The reader will find an amazing collection of testimonials by established Filipino writers from different parts of the world, who have something to say about their creative process and work.
Writers in Diaspora
While most of the writers in this book come from the Philippines and America, we have eight contributors from other countries. We have Gene Alcantara who resides in the UK and Spain. For decades, Gene has worked in building a strong network of Filipino writers in the EU. He is involved in Filipino publications (published and online) in the UK and the rest of Europe. Aside from journalistic work, he also writes poetry and short stories and is a translator (from Russian to Filipino).
From Northern California, we have Myles A. Garcia who is a screenwriter, non-fiction writer, and regular contributor to the widely distributed online magazine called Positively Filipino. Geronimo Tagatac, the son of an Ilocano farmworker, comes from Oregon. An avid listener to the stories of his father and his Cajun grandmother, he transforms his Filipino American experiences into stories. From Massachusetts, we have Grace Talusan who teaches at Brown University and writes memoirs. New York-based Luis H. Francia, who knew Jose Garcia Villa in New York, is a playwright, poet, journalist, and non-fiction writer. Brian Ascalon Roley from Ohio is another award-winning writer and professor who melds in this writing, his Filipino and his American experiences. His debut novel, American Son, about two Filipino-American brothers in California, remains a powerful landmark novel. Singapore-based Claire Betita de Guzman gives us insight into her writing life as a commercially successful chick-lit novelist; she is highly popular among younger readers.
Journalists
There are several journalists in this collection who had opposed the Ferdinand Marcos Sr. Dictatorship. When the 1972 Martial Law broke out in the Philippines, Rene Ciria-Cruz, had to leave the Philippines for New York where he became the organizer for the KDP (Katipunan ng mga Demokratikong Pilipino).
Alma Cruz Miclat and her husband Mario Miclat, fled to China after Martial Law. There they lived for 15 years, with their two daughters, until the People Power EDSA Revolution allowed them to safely return to the Philippines.
Journalists in this book who cover political and human rights topics include Ma. Ceres Doyo, Marites Dañguilan Vitug, Elizabeth Lolarga, and Marra Pl. Lanot (who is multilingual and has written books of poetry and fiction and poetry and fiction in English, Filipino, and Spanish).
Academics
This book includes multitalented academics who write literary history, criticism, and other academic work, as well as fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, and plays.
Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo has published more than 40 books of novels, short story collections, creative non-fiction, as well as literary criticism. Susan Evangelista, who was born in Michigan but who has lived in the Philippines since the 1960s, finds writing inspiration from her wealth of experiences. She served in the American Peace Corps; she taught at the Ateneo and Palawan State Universities; she co-founded with her daughter an NGO which promotes reproductive health.
Playwright and poet Joem Antonio also writes children’s books even as he teaches at the University of Asia and the Pacific. Jose Wendell Capili who is immersed in his academic life at the University of the Philippines as Professor and Dean for Public Affairs, pulls in awards for his literary history and criticism, essays, poetry, and other writings. Charlie Samuya Veric, who is Director of the Ateneo Literary and Cultural Studies Program; Vice Chair of the Ateneo Archive of Philippine Literature in English; and Vice Chair of the National Research Council of the Philippines, finds the time to write poetry even as he does his historical and other academic writings.
Danton Remoto is a professor, journalist, fiction writer, poet, screenwriter, who is also involved in fighting for human and gender rights. He founded Ladlad, the LGBTQ political party in the Philippines. Among his many published books are Riverrun and The Heart of Summer: Stories and Tales.
Historians
The historians in this collection include Jose Victor Z. Torres who integrates a literary style in his historical writings. “I was writing historical pieces that wasn’t the academic style of presenting history. I was telling history as a story. It was exciting to be a historian and a storyteller at the same time,” he says.
The food historian, Ige Ramos, also graces this anthology. Aside from his scholarly work on food, Ige Ramos, is also a book designer.
Another historian in this collection, Vicente Rafael, unfortunately passed away in February 2026, but he leaves us with his wise words in this collection. “My practice and habit of writing have always been shaped by my reading,” his essay begins. In his elegant writing, he informs us about the importance of libraries, and how at a young age, he spent “quite a bit of time riffling through card catalogs … (and) Like meeting strangers who end up becoming friends, found books proved to be intimate companions …”
Other Writers
Other notable writers in this book include Father Jesus Jay M. Miranda, Jr., a Dominican professor at the University of Santo Tomas, who gives us a religious point of view as an opinion writer. We have noted comics writer and artist Randy Valiente, who brightens the pages of our anthology with his personal story in comic-form.
The collection also includes Jessica Zafra, who was a popular television and radio show host, columnist, and non-fiction writer, before focusing on fiction writing. In this book, she shares with us how she wrote her debut novel The Age of Umbrage.
I am proud to present How I Became a Writer: Essays by Filipino Writers Volume 2, which highlights 25 of our most talented writers. I believe the readers will find nuggets of information as well as inspiration in their personal accounts.
Bio: Cecilia Manguerra Brainard is the author and editor of over 22 books, including the novels: When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, Magdalena, and The Newspaper Widow, and her Selected Short Stories. Her books have been translated into 12 languages.
She has received a Literary Advocate Award from the Carlos Bulosan Book Club, an Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city of Cebu, a California Arts Council Fellowship, a National Book Award, the Cirilo Bautista Prize, several travel grants from the US Embassy and from the National Book Development Board, among others.
She runs a small press, PALH or Philippine American Literary House. ~
READ ALSO:
Perspectives in the Arts and Humatiies Asia — Dr. Charlie Veric Interviws Cecilia Brainard
Writing Amid the Babel of Books by Vicente L Rafael — included in How I Became a Writer 2
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