News + Updates
A PICTURE PAINTS A THOUSAND WORDS! You know how a picture paints a thousand words? The image you’re seeing on this poster depicts the deplorable conditions of Filipinos who live in shanties around the infamous Smokey Mountain garbage dump and landfill in Manila, Philippines.
It provides an iconic image of the perennial blight on an otherwise white-washed picture of modern society that, in its pursuit of economic development, fails to consider the needs of everyone, including the environment.
To address such and other related problems, please join Thrivability Matters and me, the Host for the Thrivability Matters Webinar Series on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024 (6:00 p.m., UTC+10, or Brisbane, Australia Time; 4:00 p.m., Philippine Standard R=Time , as we explore and discuss the U.N. Sustainable Goal (SDG) 12: Responsible Consumption and Production.
Be amazed and fascinated by our expert speakers and their topics:
Speaker 1: Polina Efimova
Ms. Polina Efimova is from Moscow, Russia. She is focused on applying the sustainability principle of circularity as a practice in design and architecture. A graduate of the Land Management University of Russia, she is an architect and the current CEO of A.iT.
Her early interest in circular design and architecture led her to spearhead the “Architecture and Nature” forums for young architects from 2010 to 2011. She is also one of the organizers of the International Architectural Congress wherein she coordinates monthly roundtable meetings between the community and specialists in the field of circular economy to discuss practical case studies.
She’ll be speaking on the topic, “The Circular-Built Environment and Architecture,” citing real practices in Russia. She will explore how circularity as a sustainable development principle could be applied in the built environment within a creative economy.
Speaker 2: Dr. Jayant Mahajan
Dr. Jayant Mahajan is from Pune, India. He is a Physics graduate with a Masters in Information Management and a Ph.D. in Field Management. But he is no ordinary academic. He is informed by 15 years of industry experience across various fields, such as real estate, hospitality & tourism, and information technology.
His topic, “Planet, People, and Profit,” will not only touch upon our SDG focus tonight on Responsible Consumption & Production, but will also be relevant to other SGDs, such as Energy, Decent Work & Economic Growth, and Climate Action.
He will explore the singular dilemma of economic and business leaders in a capitalist economy by asking the question, “Can we achieve profit without harming the planet?”
You can register for this and future webinars (every 3rd Tuesday monthly) at ThrivabilityMatters.Online. See you then!
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...because what are my writing skills for if our planet and humanity become extinct?
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The first task of a writer to free humanity from patriarchy is stop using male-centric words like “mankind” to refer to the human race.
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Thanks to Sis Vicky Anupol and Asia Journal for this kind feature of my new novel, The Thomasite , and me as an award-winning Filipino American author!
asianjournal.com/features/people/award-winning-fil-am-author-releases-historical-novel-the-thomas...
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Award-winning Fil-Am author releases historical novel, ‘The Thomasite’ — People
asianjournal.com
THIS is not the first time Asian Journal has featured Filipino American author Victoria Grageda-Smith, and her literary works. Back in 2016, when her novella, “Faith Healer” (Brain Mill Press, 201...3 CommentsComment on Facebook
Congratulations Po!
Congratulations Vicky!
Congratulations!
📸 Look at this post on Facebook www.facebook.com/share/p/1VpFR43U6WH8ZuDC/?mibextid=WC7FNe
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I’m #reading The Thomasite at the Island Voices event this Friday, November 3 at the Orcas Island Public Library! #OIPL #writingcommunity #writers #authors #writing #books #writinglife #HistoricalFiction
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I’M THE WRITING MENTOR FOR HISTORICAL FICTION! SEE ME DURING THE 8:00 P.M SESSION!
The First Annual All-Island NaNoWriMo Writing Sprint
Have you ever spoken the words: “Someday I’ll write a novel…”? Well, someday is now! Join us for an Unforgettable Evening of Literary Inspiration, Mentorship, and Creativity.
Get ready to unleash your inner author, Islanders! Orcas Island Public Library is excited to host "The First Annual All Island Writing Sprint," an extraordinary literary event presented in partnership with Lael Watson, HALO, and NaNoWriMo. This unforgettable night of creativity will take place on November 4th, from 6 pm until midnight, offering aspiring and seasoned writers the chance to ignite their imaginations and pen their masterpieces.
Open to writers 13 to 113, the event will provide an engaging space for participants to hone their craft, receive guidance from experienced authors, and meet fellow writers. Whether you're a practiced novelist or just beginning your writing journey, "The First Annual All-Island Writing Sprint" has something to offer for everyone.
Featuring Orcas Island's very own talented authors as Writing Coaches, this event promises to be a beacon of inspiration for all writers.��Pizza, prizes, and prose will be served.
Event Schedule—6pm to Midnight:
6 PM: Find your Writing Nook and Unleash Your Creative Voice
Writing Coach: Elizabeth Menozzi (Fantasy Romance), Sam Gailey (Literary Fiction)
7 PM: Pizza Party
Writing Coach: Tish Knapp (Literary Fiction)
8 PM: 5 Minute Dance Break
Writing Coach: Victoria G. Smith (Historical Fiction)
9 PM: Word Count Check
Writing Coaches: Mark Ferrari (Epic Fantasy), Shannon Page (Fantasy, Sci-Fi, & Cozies)
10 PM: Reflect and Rejoice
Writing Coach: Ayn Gailey (Memoir & Commercial Fiction)
11 PM: Optional Sharing Session
Exchange Ideas, Ask Questions, and Gain Insights
Midnight: Celebrate your Inner Novelist!
Event info and updates at www.wearehalo.org/nanowrimo
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing. NaNoWriMo began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days. Now, each year on November 1, hundreds of thousands of people around the world begin to write, determined to end the month with a first draft. They enter the month as elementary school teachers, mechanics, or stay-at-home parents. They leave novelists.
��Orcas Island Public Library is dedicated to promoting a love of reading and writing among island residents of all ages.���HALO (Hub for Arts & Literature on Orcas) is dedicated to raising the visibility of fine artists and writers from Orcas Island and inspiring the next generation of artists.��Special thanks to NaNoWriMo Municipal Liaison, Elizabeth Menozzi.
Contact Information:
Lael Watson, Event Coordinator
Email: lwatson@springstreet.org
Phone: (360)-622-5700
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Mark your calendars budding authors! I’m invited to & will mentor a session of the inaugural all-island NaNoWriMo Writing Sprint: Nov. 4!
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PHILIPPINE HOLLOWEEN
(An ekphrastic poem inspired by an abandoned protest banner in front of the Philippine Commission on Elections building)
By: Victoria Grageda-Smith
What an eerie sight:
a ghostly scene—where
a huge crowd should have been
shouting out those written
words on a similarly ghostly sheet!
A nation rises or falls
by its actions and omissions.
(Photo courtesy of @John Delacruz)
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Dear Orcas Island readers, friends, visitors, and @followers, see you very soon—today, Saturday, October 7 at 5:30 -6:30 pm for my solo reading and signing of The Thomasite at Darvill's Bookstore! Let our celebration of Filipino American History Month begin! The Thomasite Book Reading & Signing Orange Blossom Publishing
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POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE due to a family medical emergency of the hosts. We wish them speedy and fullest recovery.
@followers, Family and Friends, I hope to see many of you during my Los Angeles area book launch! What better way to celebrate Filipino History Month than through a novel, The Thomasite , which celebrates the shared history of Filipinos and Americans?
Here are a little bit about the book and me:
ABOUT THE BOOK:
In 1901, during the Philippine-American War, a young American teacher, Eleanor Karsten, sails on the U. S. Army Transport Thomas to the Philippine Islands with more than 500 other US educators in response to President McKinley's call to teach Filipino children and help establish a public school system in the new U.S. territory. A stopover in the Hawaii Islands and a brief stay in Manila awaken her to the implications of America's new expansionist policy.
When she arrives at her designated school area, various challenges—including malaria, a cholera epidemic, war, and racial, class, and religious tensions—test her resolve to fulfill her mission. Her loyalties are likewise tested when she becomes romantically entangled with a native man whom she suspects could be the local leader of the insurrection.
Her journey takes her through love and loss of mythic proportions as she witnesses the human ramifications of America’s policy of ‘benevolent assimilation of Filipinos,' wherein she finds herself the student rather than the teacher.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Victoria Grageda-Smith is a first-generation Filipino US immigrant and lawyer turned award-winning American author published in all creative writing genres (fiction, nonfiction, and poetry).
Her debut literary historical novel, THE THOMASITE, was released by Orange Blossom Publishing on May 30, 2023. She’s also the author of the Driftless Unsolicited Novella Award-winning FAITH HEALER (Brain Mill Press, 2016). Her short story, Portrait of the Other Lady, won first place in the Fifth Annual Ventura County-Ventura County Star national short story contest and was published (Ventura County Star, November 28, 2004).
The anthology, OTHERS WILL ENTER THE GATES: IMMIGRANT POETS ON POETRY, INFLUENCES, AND WRITING IN AMERICA (Black Lawrence Press, 2015), includes her essay, “Gatekeepers and Gatecrashers in Contemporary American Poetry: Reflections of a Filipino Immigrant Poet in the United States.”
She’s also the author of the Kirkus-acclaimed poetry collection, WARRIOR HEART, PILGRIM SOUL: AN IMMIGRANT’S JOURNEY (Amazon, 2013). Her poetry is recognized with distinction by the Crosswinds Poetry Journal International Contest, New Millennium Poetry Awards, Knightville Poetry Contest, and Edwin Markham Poetry Award. Her poems appear in, among others, Slippery Elm Journal, Reed Magazine, Lyrical Iowa, Crosswinds Poetry Journal, and New Millennium Writings.
Victoria is the author of a new story collection manuscript, DAUGHTERS OF THE BAMBOO, and a second poetry collection manuscript, MOTHER OF EXILES.
When Victoria isn't writing, she likes to read or walk in the woods and on the beach with her husband, children, and dogs at their home on an island in the Puget Sound.
Follow her on VictoriaGSmith.com, Facebook Author Victoria G. Smith, Twitter @AuthorVGSmith, and Instagram victoriagsmithauthor.
PLEASE SAVE THE DATE AND TIME:
WHEN: Saturday, October 21, 4-6 pm
WHERE: Philippine Expressions Bookshop, 479 W Sixth St, Unit 105, San Pedro, CA 90731, United States
See you then!
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Orange Blossom Publishing
Linda Nietes-Little
#thethomasite
#filipinoamericanbooks
#filipinoamericanauthor
#philippineislands
#FilipinoAmericanHistoryMonth
#thethomasites
#PhilippineHistory
#filipinoauthors
#USHistory
#filipinobooks
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Happy Birthday Malagu!
Happy birthday ganda
WE’RE IN THE ORCASONIAN! Dear @followers, readers, and friends, please check out this feature about my book reading and signing of The Thomasite in The Orcasonian news:
Darvill's Bookstore
The Thomasite Book Reading & Signing #FilipinoAmericanHistoryMonth
#filipinoamericanauthor
#filipinoauthors
#filipinoamericanbooks
#filipinobooks
#historicalfiction
#historicalbooks
#ushistory
#uscolonialhistory
#PhilippineHistory
#philippineislands
#thethomasites
#thethomasite
Local author to read/sign her debut literary historical novel
theorcasonian.com
||| FROM VICTORIA GRAGEDA-SMITH ||| In celebration of Filipino American National History Month, I will be reading and signing my debut literary historical novel, The Thomasite, published and released ...0 CommentsComment on Facebook
COME & CELEBRATE FILIPINO AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH with AWARD-WINNING FILIPINO-AMERICAN Author Victoria Grageda-Smith--at the BOOK READING & SIGNING of her now critically-acclaimed debut literary historical novel, The Thomasite !
WHEN: Saturday, October 7, 2023, 5:30-6:30 p.m.
WHERE: Darvill's Bookstore, Eastsound Village, Orcas Island
Darvill's Bookstore
Orange Blossom Publishing
@followers
The Thomasite Book Reading & Signing #FilipinoAmericanHistoryMonth
#filipinoamericanauthor
#filipinoauthors
#filipinoamericanbooks
#filipinobooks
#historicalfiction
#historicalbooks
#ushistory
#uscolonialhistory
#PhilippineHistory
#philippineislands
#thethomasites
#thethomasite
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Congratulations 💖🍾🎉
congratulations 🎈🎊po
Congrats, my friend! Wishing you a most wonderful reading/signing event!
THE CLASSIC POEM ON CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE FOR OUR TIMES--ESPECIALLY FOR THE FILIPINO NATION! (The original English version by Shelley follows below my Tagalog translation.)
ANG MASKARA NG ANARKIYA
(Saling Tagalog ni Author Victoria Grageda-Smith mula sa tulang Ingles ni Percy Bysshe Shelley)
Tumayo tayo nang mahinahon at matatag,
Parang gubat na pinagsiksik at pipi
Na nakatiklop ang mga braso at mukha:
Mga sandata ng di-nalulupig sa digmaan.
At kung maglakas-loob ang mga maniniil,
Hayaang dumaan sila sa gitna natin;
Laslasin at saksakin, pilayin at putulin man nila tayo—
Kung ano ang gusto nila, iyo’y hayaan nilang gawin.
Na may nakahalukipkip na mga braso at nakatitig na mga mata,
At kaunting takot, walang sorpresa,
Titigan natin sila habang sila ay pumapatay,
Hanggang sa mawala na ang kanilang kapangyarihan:
At kung bumalik man sila na may kahihiyan,
Sa lugar kung saan sila nagmula,
Ang dugong ibinuhos nila ay sisigaw
Sa mainit na pamumula ng kanilang mga pisngi:
Bumangon tayo tulad ng mga leon pagkatapos ng pagkakatulog
Sa hindi matatalong mga bilang!
Kalantugin ang ating mga tanikala sa lupa nang tulad ng hamog
Na sa ating pagtulog ay nahulog sa atin:
Tayo ay marami—sila ay kakaunti!
*****
THE MASK OF ANARCHY
By: Percy Shelley
Stand ye calm and resolute,
Like a forest close and mute,
With folded arms and looks which are
Weapons of unvanquished war.
And if then the tyrants dare,
Let them ride among you there;
Slash, and stab, and maim and hew;
What they like, that let them do.
With folded arms and steady eyes,
And little fear, and less surprise,
Look upon them as they slay,
Till their rage has died away:
Then they will return with shame,
To the place from which they came,
And the blood thus shed will speak
In hot blushes on their cheek:
Rise, like lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number!
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you:
Ye are many—they are few!
(From: Shelley, Percy Bysshe (1847). Shelley, Mrs. (ed.). The works of Percy Bysshe Shelley. pp. 231–235.)
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Filipino American Month 2X! The Thomasite book reading & signing: 10/7 5:30 Darvill's Bookstore; 10/21 4-6 L.A. Phil. Expressions Bookshop!
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www.facebook.com/100089782085353/posts/252986674370734/?mibextid=cr9u03
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When looking for THE THOMASITE in bookstore shelves, pls. check author surnames under both “G” or “S” for Victoria Grageda-Smith.
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AUTHOR BOOK READING & SIGNING IN SO-CAL IN OCTOBER! As part of Filipino American month in October, I’ve been invited by Philippine Ecpressions Bookshop owner, Linda Nietes-Little, to give a reading and book signing of The Thomasite at the bookstore in October 21! Details to follow!
See you all there, especially Filipino American National Historical Society Museum members and @followers!
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Eka bisa maki pag La Naval fiesta , Oct 7, at St. Anthony f Padus Church in Gardena, frm 10 am w/ a mass at 5:40 pm mass by Fr Joel Henson. And BTW coronation of Birhen delos Remedios at thr LA cathedral naman Sept. 24! And may I ask atin Nietes Angeles kanita who owned a school, baka relatives de ing friend mu
Looking forward to attending.
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