Monica Macansantos: Publication News and Pandemic Essay on the Importance of Words

KHN Alumnx (2012 and 2019) Monica Macansantos, writer and editor, has announced her upcoming publications, as well as an article she wrote recently about the COVID pandemic, which is featured in New Zealand's The Pantograph Punch.

A quote from Monica about her recent experiences that she discusses in the article (see link for full article): "I was about to leave for a residency at Moriumius in Japan when the Philippines was placed under lockdown, and while stuck here I turned to Katherine Mansfield's short fiction for solace. I wrote about how her work taught me to slow down and allow light into my life amidst the darkness and despair of this pandemic." Her article, "The Life-Affirming Words of Katherine Mansfield in a Time of Pandemic," is her newest piece, and marks the first time Monica wrote an essay that straddles literary criticism and memoir, per her website. Monica continues, "Katherine Mansfield is the writer we need right now, when our future feels uncertain and the present is all we can truly claim."

Monica's work has recently appeared or is forthcoming in Anomaly, Lunch Ticket, Vol.1 Brooklyn, Another Chicago Magazine, Oyster River Pages, SBS Voices, and The Pantograph Punch. Monica has also announced she has been awarded residencies at Moriumius (Japan), the I-Park Foundation (Connecticut), and the Storyknife Writers Retreat (Alaska). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, these residencies have been temporariiy suspended / postponed until further notice, as have many residency programs worldwide. 

Monica Macansantos was born and raised in Baguio, "a tourist town in the Philippines known for its chilly climate, pine trees, indigenous culture, and nearby strawberry farms. Many of my stories are set in this town, or are about people who, like me, have left. I also spent a part of my childhood in Newark, Delaware, another setting for my fiction. I tend to write stories about the places where I live or have lived, which include Manila, Philippines, Austin, Texas, and Wellington, New Zealand." (via website)

Monica Macansantos was a James A. Michener Fellow in Writing at the University of Texas at Austin, where she earned her MFA in Fiction and Poetry. She also holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. Her fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in ANMLY, failbetter.com, Women's Studies Quarterly, The Masters Review Anthology, Day One, TAYO Literary Magazine, Hypertrophic Literary, and Oyster River Pages, among other places, while her nonfiction and journalism have appeared or are forthcoming in ​Vol.1 Brooklyn, Another Chicago Magazine, Takahe, New Naratif, ​SBS Voices, VICE, The Pantograph Punch, and Lunch Ticket, among other places. Her essay, "Becoming A Writer: The Silences We Write Against", was named a Notable Essay in The Best American Essays 2016. Her novella, "Leaving Auckland" (serialized in three parts on failbetter​), was a Top 25 Finalist in the Summer 2016 Glimmer Train Fiction Open, while her story, "Stopover", earned an Honorable Mention in the Winter 2013 Glimmer Train Fiction Open. In 2019, she received the Phi Kappa Phi Love of Learning Award in recognition of her academic achievements. She served as guest editor of Aotearotica, New Zealand's journal of erotic writing and art. She has been awarded artists' fellowships at Hedgebrook (2014), the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts (2012 & 2019), Moriumius-Japan (2020), the I-Park Foundation (2021), and the Storyknife Writers Retreat (2021). 

Congratulations, Monica!