A FILIPINO-AMERICAN author has stressed on the role of historical fiction as an entertaining and informative genre of literature.
“I think there is power in knowing one’s history. Historical fiction is one way of giving that information out in an entertaining manner,” Cecilia Manguerra Brainard said in a lecture last June 30 at the Albertus Magnus Building.
Brainard said a creative approach to history would be better because history books and newspapers merely give “bare bones of information.”
“This (historical fiction) is just one way of really understanding the forces that history can have on characters that are hopefully realistic or lifelike,” she said.
Brainard’s novels “The Newspaper Widow” and “Magdalena” were launched and relaunched, respectively, in the event.
“The Newspaper Widow” follows the story of a newspaper woman named Ines Maceda who solves a crime in the fictitious city of Ubec.
“Magdalena” deals with the lives of three generations of Filipino women during the Japanese occupation.
Brainard teaches creative writing at the University of California, Los Angeles Extension Writers’ Program. She founded the Philippine American Literary House.
The event was hosted by the UST Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies, UST Publishing House and UST Department of Literature.
Photos by Michael Angelo M. Reyes
