When the Rainbow Goddess Wept
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard
(Author)
Description
Set against the backdrop of the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in 1941, Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's brilliant novel weaves myth and legend together with the suffering and tragedies of the Filipino people. When nine-year-old Yvonne flees with her family into the jungle to join the resistance effort, she witnesses death and destruction on an almost unimaginable scale.In the face of terror and despair, she finds comfort in the stories her people have passed down over generations. In particular, the legends of Bongkatolan, the Woman Warrior, and the merciful rainbow goddess offer her strength and hope. Yvonne becomes determined to preserve these ancient legends and to give voice to the epic she herself is living.
When the Rainbow Goddess Wept is an exploration of the collective wounding of the Filipino people and their heroic response. It shows us the Philippines through an insider's eyes and brings to American audiences an unusual reading experience about a world that is utterly foreign and a child who is touchingly universal.
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard was born in Cebu City, Philippines. Her published works include Woman with Horns and Other Stories and Philippine Woman in America. She is also the editor of the anthology Fiction by Filipinos in America and teaches creative writing at the Writers' Program of UCLA Extension.
Product Details
Price
$23.94
Publisher
University of Michigan Press
Publish Date
August 30, 1999
Pages
232
Dimensions
5.27 X 8.01 X 0.6 inches | 0.01 pounds
Language
English
Type
Paperback
EAN/UPC
9780472086375
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About the Author
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard was born and raised in the port city of Cebu, Philippines, a place she turned into her mythical setting called "Ubec" for many of her stories. She attended St. Theresa's College and Maryknoll College in the Philippines before migrating to the United States to do graduate work in film making. She later turned to writing and other literary work. She went on to write and edit twenty-two books. Brainard has taught at the University of Southern California, UCLA, California State Summer School for the Arts, UCLA-Extension's Writers Program. She lectures and performs in literary arts venues such as Shakespeare and Company in Paris, Culture Rapide in Paris, Beyond Baroque, the writers group PEN, Coming Together in Skokie, Illinois, Second Literary Symposium in Jackson, Tennessee, Filipino American International Book Festivals, Cebu Philippines Literary Festivals, and many Philippine and US universities. As a former Executive Board Member of the writers' group PEN, she represented PEN USA West in international meetings in Barcelona and Santiago de Compostela. She served as an officer in such groups as the Midnight Special Cultural Center, PAAWWW (Pacific Asian American Women Writers West), and Arts & Letters at the California State University, Los Angeles. Brainard co-founded PAWWW (Philippine American Women Writers and Artists) a support group that received funding from the California Arts Coundil She founded and runs PALH (Philippine American Literary House), a publishing house of fine Philippine American books. She is an active member of the Philippine and Philippine American communities. She has received several awards including a California Arts Council Fellowship, a Brody Arts Fund, an Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city Cebu Philippines, a City of Los Angeles Culture Grant, several USIS grants, California State Senate 21st District, and others. Her books have won the Gintong Aklat Award, the International Gourmand Award, and others. She is married with three sons.
