Cover Photo: An image of the writer holding a pencil that is as large as her body as she sketches faces that interconnect
Illustration by Sirin Thada for Catapult

Writing Family Ensembles in Memoir

Writing is decision-making.

She talks to herself in the kitchen. Guilty, undoubtedly, your honor!

debt lawyer called be a good daughter

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how

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It’s important because it happened to you. But it only goes in the book if it answers the central question we’re trying to answer.

What does it mean to you to fix the past? fixpastyou

becoming

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You are here

Cinelle is a formerly undocumented memoirist, essayist & educator from the Philippines, and is the author of MONSOON MANSION: A MEMOIR and MALAYA: ESSAYS ON FREEDOM, and the editor of the New York Times New & Noteworthy book A MEASURE OF BELONGING: 21 WRITERS OF COLOR ON THE NEW AMERICAN SOUTH. She has an MFA from Converse College. Her writing has appeared or been featured in the NYT, Longreads, Electric Literature, Buzzfeed, Literary Hub, Hyphen & CNN Philippines, among others. Her work is anthologized in A MAP IS ONLY ONE STORY. She’s a contributing editor, instructor & writer at Catapult.