Axel Timo Purr talks to Cebu-born, California-based author Cecilia Manguerra Brainard about her origins, language and writing between two worlds. Growing up in an artistic and academic family, she found refuge in stories at an early age - in diaries, at a Belgian convent school and later in exile. "If I had stayed in the Philippines, I would have been a different writer," says Brainard, whose novels such as The Newspaper Widow interweave memory, colonial history and female self-determination. She reflects on the fractures of exile, the narrow Philippine publishing industry and the literary market in the US - between happiness and loss, big houses and forgotten voices. And she firmly believes that education and literature remain the key to creating a more just, mindful country.

Language: English

Place/Date: Munich/Santa Monica/Zoom, September 23,  2025

This podcast is part of the report Literary Travel in the Philippines.

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