About Me 

I 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. I may strike people as rootless due to my ability to just pack up and leave, and writing is my way of taking root wherever I live. Oftentimes, my mind returns to Baguio when I write, since it is and will always be my first home.
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Aside from writing and reading, I love pursuing my other passions, which include cooking, swimming, yoga, and tango. 

Professional Bio

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, International Institute of Modern Letters. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in failbetter.com, Women's Studies Quarterly, The Masters Review Anthology, Day One, Aotearotica, Takahe, and New Naratif, 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. She has been awarded residencies at Hedgebrook (2014) and the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts (2012 & 2019). She is currently Branches Nonfiction Editor of Rambutan Literary ​and is also working on her first novel. She is represented by Kerry D'Agostino of Curtis Brown, Ltd. in New York City.