In the Company of Strangers ... interview with Michelle Cruz Skinner
Posted by Michael Little

In the Company of Strangers, Michelle Cruz Skinner's new collection of short stories from Bamboo Ridge Press, is set to launch on Tuesday, November 17 (6:30 p.m. reception and book signing; 7:00 p.m. book launch and reading by Michelle; Luke Lecture Hall, Wo International Center, Punahou School; free and open to the public).

R. Zamora Linmark, author of Prime Time Apparitions and The Evolution of a Sigh, describes the book this way:

“Sixteen deceptively simple stories comprise Michelle Cruz Skinner’s much-anticipated follow-up to Balikbayan and Mango Seasons, many of them about Filipinos tongue-tied and alienated in the motherland, or scattered across the map of heartaches and homesickness in the company of strangers called countrymen, family, lovers. A book of quiet gems definitely worth the wait.”

Michelle Cruz Skinner teaches at Punahou School. She was born in Manila and raised primarily in Olongapo City, Philippines. A short story from her first collection was selected for the PEN Syndicated Fiction Project and her second book was nominated for the 1996 Philippine National Book Award. Her work has been adapted for stage and public radio and she has read extensively at universities and conferences, both in the Philippines and on the mainland.

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