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Beyond the Great Wall
by Mario Ignacio Miclat, Alma Miclat, Maningning Miclat and Banaue Miclat
ISBN: 971-27-17089
Edition: 2006

Anvil Publishing, Inc. and the Maningning Miclat Art Foundation has launched the book "Beyond the Great Wall" on Friday, May 5, 2006, in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila.

The book is a selection of personal essays on China, the Chinese, and being Filipino. It is written by UP professor, writer and poet, Mario Ignacio Miclat, his wife Alma, and daughters Maningning and Banaue on their 15 year-sojourn in China from 1971 to 1986 covering the periods of Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution, the death of Premier Zhou Enlai, the downfall of the Gang of Four, and the reforms initiated by paramount leader Deng Xiaoping.

Miclat, in his preface, says: “For 15 years, my family of native Filipinos lived in the shadows of the Great Wall. All through 1971 to 1986, we experienced the Middle Kingdom in depth and breadth. We made regular sojourns to different places, many of which were restricted not only to foreigners but also to the ordinary Chinese. We were privileged to see a world beyond the Great Wall.” The book contains the authors' personal essays on the arts, culture, the economy, politics, and society arranged in four headings, namely: situating the family, searching for self, reversing the diaspora, and finding the nation.

Alma is SVP of Data Center Design Corporation in Makati. Meanwhile, Banaue is a film and theater actress who is graduating in June with a Master of Fine Arts in Acting at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York.

Maningning was a multi-awarded artist, poet and writer in Filipino, English and Chinese.

The book was also launched at the Cranwell International Center of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, USA on May 25. Signing tours also took place in New York and San Diego last spring.

Published by Anvil Publishing, Inc., royalties and proceeds from the sale of the book will benefit the Maningning Miclat Art Foundation, Inc. (MMAFI), a non-stock, non-profit organization. The MMAFI has been holding the Maningning Miclat Trilingual Poetry Competition during odd numbered years and the Maningning Miclat Art Competition during even numbered years. This year, MMAFI will hold the art competition for visual artists 28 years old and below with the grand prize winning PhP28,000.00 and a glass sculpture trophy by the eminent artist, Ramon Orlina. (Email maningningfoundation@gmail.com, acmiclat2004@yahoo.com and visit www.maningning.com for details).

(Publisher's release)

OOV Bookshelf 2006

DECEMBER 2006 FEATURE Dancing the Shrimp by Jim and Isabel Kenny Pinoy Jazz Traditions by Richie C. Quirino AUGUST 2006 FEATURE One Tribe by M. Evelina Galang Lakas and the Makibaka Hotel / Si Lakas at ang Makibaka Hotel by Anthony D. Robles Beyond the Great Wall by Mario Ignacio Miclat, Alma Miclat, Maningning Miclat and Banaue Miclat