Sundress Publications announces the release of Patrick Joseph Caoile’s Tales from Manila Ave. Caoile’s short story collection traces the joys and struggles of Filipino immigrants as they navigate life and ponder identity outside their motherland.
Through touching reflection on community and memory, Caoile’s debut collection takes an honest yet playful look into the intricacies of longing and belonging. Tenants gather to swap meals and stories, workers strive to prove their worth, sons and daughters revisit their relationships with faith, patriotism, and their own parents. Feelings of grief and alienation abide, but so do love and gratitude as these characters forge bonds and gain perspective in unexpected encounters. These contemporary tales are evidence of an inheritance that continues to flourish; they vocalize the lessons that have taken wordless root in our hearts, waiting for us to remember them.
John McNally, author of The Fear of Everything and The Book of Ralph, writes of Tales from Manila Ave., “reading it feels like walking a street at dusk, each lit window offering a glimpse into a private world. With each stop, we’re invited inside—to smell the sinigang, hear the music of Tagalog, and steep into rooms where faith, grief, and pop culture congregate. In the tradition of Sandra Cisneros and Edwidge Danticat, Patrick Joseph Caoile offers something wholly his own: a new generation’s immigrant experience, where Blue Power Rangers and buko juice coexist.”
You can purchase your copy here!
Patrick Joseph Caoile is a Filipino poet and Visiting Assistant Professor of Literature and Creative Writing at Hamilton College. His work is featured in Bright Flash Literary Review, the anthology Growing Up Filipino 3, and elsewhere. He holds multiple degrees in English from Saint Peter’s University, Seton Hall University, and the University of Louisiana.
