Monica Macansantos, alias Butchay

Reckoning with the American Dream in Las Vegas - Electric Literature Based on what America has provided a foreigner like me, I want to believe this country can shine its grace on those who have rarely felt it

In case you missed it, here's my essay about living in Las Vegas in the lead up to the US presidential elections, and witnessing the promises (and deceptions) of the American Dream, for @electricliterature.com

Thanks so much to @electricliterature.com and to Meredith Talusan for publishing my essay about living in Las Vegas in the lead-up to the US presidential elections, while looking at the promises (and deceptions) of the American Dream.

Thanks so much to @electricliterature.com and to Meredith Talusan for publishing my essay about living in Las Vegas in the lead-up to the US presidential elections, while looking at the promises (and deceptions) of the American Dream.

My diss track for racist New Zealanders and Karori Karens seems to have taken off in New Zealand while ruffling some feathers, and so I'm sharing it again because we troll like that

An incident in Karori An author's deeply unhappy experience in the Wellington suburb of Karori

People usually see New Zealand as this tolerant, liberal utopia, and although it has great qualities, it also has a hard time dealing with racism and xenophobia. Thankfully, Newsroom NZ ran an excerpt from my latest book, about the racist landlady from hell. newsroom.co.nz/2025/07/28/a...

An incident in Karori An author's deeply unhappy experience in the Wellington suburb of Karori

People usually see New Zealand as this tolerant, liberal utopia, and although it has great qualities, it also has a hard time dealing with racism and xenophobia. Thankfully, Newsroom NZ ran an excerpt from my latest book, about the racist landlady from hell. newsroom.co.nz/2025/07/28/a...

In honor of the late Jo Lou, deputy editor at @electricliterature.com, who opened doors for me when I first pitched an article to her in 2021, setting into motion a years long collaboration that resulted in this interview. I was a complete stranger to her, and yet she was so kind.

5 Questions with Monica Macansantos — LIMINAL “I imagine my published stories and essays having their own lives in the world, and their own encounters with discerning and generous readers that enable them to grow and take on new meanings. This is...

I'm back with an interview with Liminal Magazine in Australia! We talked about the opportunities nonfiction preset to turn inwards, the roles played by fiction and nonfiction in depicting the immigrant experience, and how to determine when a project is finished. www.liminalmag.com/5-questions/...

5 Questions with Monica Macansantos — LIMINAL “I imagine my published stories and essays having their own lives in the world, and their own encounters with discerning and generous readers that enable them to grow and take on new meanings. This is...

I'm back with an interview with Liminal Magazine in Australia! We talked about the opportunities nonfiction preset to turn inwards, the roles played by fiction and nonfiction in depicting the immigrant experience, and how to determine when a project is finished. www.liminalmag.com/5-questions/...

In case you were planning to buy my book, Book People in Austin has 14 SIGNED copies! They also deliver to my knowledge. bookpeople.com/book/9780810...

9 Books About Filipino Fathers - Electric Literature These complex, layered characters invite us to more closely examine Filipino masculinity

It's not often that I see reading lists about Filipino fathers, which is why I made this list to celebrate my book's release for @electricliterature.com! electricliterature.com/9-books-abou...

Book Critic Catherine Robertson joined Jesse to chat about some books that she's been really looking forward to reading. Wonderland by Tracy Farr (The Cuba Press) Returning To My Father's Kitchen by Monica Macans...

So happy to hear my book being reviewed on Radio New Zealand! Considering how hard it is to get a book reviewed, and to get my book in the hands of Kiwi readers while living outside New Zealand, it's a huge win for me. www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro...

How a Filipino Poet’s Kitchen Became His Daughter’s Writing Desk - Electric Literature Monica Macansantos traces memory, legacy, and identity through the food her father left behind

“A lot of immigrants become convinced of their smallness without being fully conscious of it, and I learned that to keep my self worth intact, I had to fight back.”

Writing As Collaboration: On Weaving My Late Father's Poems into My Work by Monica Macansantos | Northwestern University Press When I’m asked what provided me with the impetus for writing an entire collection of essays, the most convenient explanation I can come up with is my

And oh yes I also wrote this for the @nupress.bsky.social blog, about how I wove my late father's poetry into my work as an act of collaboration across the distances for my essay collection, Returning to My Father's Kitchen. nupress.northwestern.edu/blog/2025/05...

And Now, I Know: Learning to Take Up Space as a Writer Author Monica Macansantos shares how an interaction with an award-winning author helped give her the confidence to take up space as a writer.

At a low point in my life, I met Paul Beatty at the Auckland Writer's Festival. Our conversation at his signing table changed my life. I'm glad I stuck around long enough to write about it for the @writersdigest.bsky.social. www.writersdigest.com/and-now-i-kn...

Thank you! Gosh he's the loveliest

And Now, I Know: Learning to Take Up Space as a Writer Author Monica Macansantos shares how an interaction with an award-winning author helped give her the confidence to take up space as a writer.

At a low point in my life, I met Paul Beatty at the Auckland Writer's Festival. Our conversation at his signing table changed my life. I'm glad I stuck around long enough to write about it for the @writersdigest.bsky.social. www.writersdigest.com/and-now-i-kn...

Yay!

Congrats on a job well done! Happy pub day @missmacansantos.bsky.social !

Cherry Lou Sy speaks with Monica Macansantos about her latest essay collection “Returning to My Father’s Kitchen,” the tradition of creative writing instruction in the Philippines, experiences of dislocation across countries, and what draws her to write about food, memory, and loss.

How a Filipino Poet’s Kitchen Became His Daughter’s Writing Desk - Electric Literature Monica Macansantos traces memory, legacy, and identity through the food her father left behind

Plus I have an interview about my book and my decision to return home to the Philippines after my dad died in @electricliterature.com! Grateful to @cherrylousy.bsky.social for her insightful and thoughtful questions. electricliterature.com/how-a-filipi...

Monica Macansantos on Finding Her Voice and Reuniting with Her Father Through Used Books When I was growing up in the Philippines, our small resort town had none of the gleaming bookstores I’d later encounter as a graduate student in America, whose tall shelves containing crisp new rel…

To celebrate my book's release today, @literaryhub.bsky.social ran my essay about how my father and I got our literary education in the Philippines from used bookstores. Hoping this gives joy to second hand book lovers! lithub.com/monica-macan...

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I'm part of this brilliance in case you're coming to AWP!

One thing about working in an indie bookstore is that I see how thin their margins are. Always shop locally when you can. Keep local businesses alive, and keep the money in your community.

From great pettiness comes great art

The Cherry Orchard is also at the top of my list

They only stole one short story of mine, but if you're doing a class action lawsuit I'm in

Bleh reminds me of all the things I was told about Filipinos (I'm Filipino) in white academia

FML Zuckerberg pirated my short story to train Meta's AI program. Who else is in a class action-y mode