Monica Macansantos, alias Butchay
@missmacansantos.bsky.social
Shearing Fellow, Black Mountain Institute, 2024-25. Author of RETURNING TO MY FATHER'S KITCHEN: ESSAYS (forthcoming from Northwestern University Press) and LOVE AND OTHER RITUALS: STORIES. Work in Colorado Review, The Hopkins Review, Bennington Review, etc
Pinned
I am horrified by the prospect of listening to my own voice on the radio, so maybe you could do it on my behalf. This aired last night on Nevada Public Radio, and I talked about my work as a visiting writer in Las Vegas and my forthcoming book with @nupress.bsky.social. knpr.org/show/black-m...
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
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
newsroom.co.nz
August 5, 2025 at 8:58 AM
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
Reposted by Monica Macansantos, alias Butchay
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
newsroom.co.nz
July 28, 2025 at 6:14 AM
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...
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
newsroom.co.nz
July 28, 2025 at 6:14 AM
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.
“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.”
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
buff.ly
July 27, 2025 at 8:31 AM
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.
Reposted by Monica Macansantos, alias Butchay
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...
www.liminalmag.com
July 19, 2025 at 3:41 AM
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/...
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...
www.liminalmag.com
July 19, 2025 at 3:41 AM
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...
Returning to My Father's Kitchen: Essays
A young Filipino writer’s odyssey toward home, in the wake of the loss of her poet father Feeling untethered after her beloved poet father passes away while she is living abroad, Monica Macansantos ...
bookpeople.com
May 27, 2025 at 11:21 PM
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...
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...
9 Books About Filipino Fathers - Electric Literature
These complex, layered characters invite us to more closely examine Filipino masculinity
electricliterature.com
May 23, 2025 at 5:50 PM
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...
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...
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...
www.rnz.co.nz
May 21, 2025 at 3:21 PM
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...
Reposted by Monica Macansantos, alias Butchay
“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.”
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
buff.ly
May 19, 2025 at 8:01 PM
“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.”
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...
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
nupress.northwestern.edu
May 19, 2025 at 12:41 AM
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...
Reposted by Monica Macansantos, alias Butchay
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...
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.
www.writersdigest.com
May 16, 2025 at 6:57 PM
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...
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...
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.
www.writersdigest.com
May 16, 2025 at 6:57 PM
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...
Reposted by Monica Macansantos, alias Butchay
Congrats on a job well done! Happy pub day @missmacansantos.bsky.social !
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...
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
electricliterature.com
May 15, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Congrats on a job well done! Happy pub day @missmacansantos.bsky.social !
Reposted by Monica Macansantos, alias Butchay
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.
buff.ly
May 15, 2025 at 5:02 PM
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.
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...
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
electricliterature.com
May 15, 2025 at 11:01 PM
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...
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...
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…
lithub.com
May 15, 2025 at 11:00 PM
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...
Reposted by Monica Macansantos, alias Butchay
Writers and artists: reply with a link to one of your works. And feel free to tell us about it.
Everyone: let's check through the replies and buy some creations and support some creators.
Everyone: let's check through the replies and buy some creations and support some creators.
February 23, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Writers and artists: reply with a link to one of your works. And feel free to tell us about it.
Everyone: let's check through the replies and buy some creations and support some creators.
Everyone: let's check through the replies and buy some creations and support some creators.
I'm part of this brilliance in case you're coming to AWP!
We’d love to see you at our “Filipino Women Writing Nonfiction” panel on Saturday morning at AWPLA!
@missmacansantos.bsky.social @annablabs.bsky.social, Melissa Chadburn, Laurel Flores Fantauzzo.
@missmacansantos.bsky.social @annablabs.bsky.social, Melissa Chadburn, Laurel Flores Fantauzzo.
March 21, 2025 at 9:36 PM
I'm part of this brilliance in case you're coming to AWP!
Reposted by Monica Macansantos, alias Butchay
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.
March 21, 2025 at 7:56 AM
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.
FML Zuckerberg pirated my short story to train Meta's AI program. Who else is in a class action-y mode
March 20, 2025 at 7:37 PM
FML Zuckerberg pirated my short story to train Meta's AI program. Who else is in a class action-y mode
Reposted by Monica Macansantos, alias Butchay
both of my published books are in here and i am in a class action-y mood today
NEW: LibGen contains millions of pirated books and research papers, built over nearly two decades. From court documents, we know that Meta torrented a version of it to build its AI. Today, @theatlantic.com presents an analysis of the data set by @alexreisner.bsky.social. Search through it yourself:
The Unbelievable Scale of AI’s Pirated-Books Problem
Meta pirated millions of books to train its AI. Search through them here.
www.theatlantic.com
March 20, 2025 at 1:18 PM
both of my published books are in here and i am in a class action-y mood today
Really good biko for breakfast, thanks to Valerio's in Las Vegas!
March 8, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Really good biko for breakfast, thanks to Valerio's in Las Vegas!
One of my favorite quotes from my recent short story in @riverstyxmag.bsky.social. To read more, click here: www.riverstyx.org/proof-blog/l...
March 7, 2025 at 3:03 PM
One of my favorite quotes from my recent short story in @riverstyxmag.bsky.social. To read more, click here: www.riverstyx.org/proof-blog/l...