Mary Grace Bertulfo

Mary Grace is a wordsmith based in Chicago who has written internationally for television, magazines, books, journals, and children’s education. From stories of sea-faring and womanhood to deliciously cold prairie treks in 18 degree Midwestern  weather, her writing explores her twin passions: Filipino culture and the wonders of nature. The unique and the universal.

Over the last 15 years, Mary Grace has been devoted to bringing nature stories and Filipino-based fiction out into communities. She has worked with people from many different walks of life and backgrounds united in a common love of stories, creativity, and reading. Through her writing, Mary Grace hopes to connect people to the wonders of nature.

She is active with: Kandila, a four-woman writers & artists collective devoted to Asian American arts, global consciousness, and peace. Families of Asian American Students (FAASt) where she developed the reading series “Talk Story: Asian American Children’s Stories for Everyone.” The Step-Ins Book Project. The Historical Novel Society. And Story Studio Chicago.

Mabuhay means live. Live powerfully, live lovingly.

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WRITING CREDITS

Television

The Know Your Heritage Show. CBS and Central City Productions. Two seasons.

Fiction, Poetry, & Essays

• Honoring Our Ancestors. Essay, spiritual writing. Our Own Voice. Special issue on babaylans (Filipino shamans) edited by Leny Mendoza Strobel and Aileen Ibardaloza-Cassinetto. Literary ezine of the Filipino diaspora. August 2010.
• Shiny Black Boots. YA short story. Growing Up Filipino, Volume 2. Editor Cecilia Brainard. PAHL and Anvil Press. 2010.
• The Fullness of Time. Creative nonfiction, essay. Finding God. Editors Cecilia Brainard & Marily Orosa. Anvil Press. 2009.
• Secret Doors. Essay. Uptown Writers Space feature for May 2008.

• Windsong. Short story. Amerasia Journal.
• Isang anak Sa Pamilya. Poem. Pacific Ties.

Magazine Articles – Samples

• Promise on the Prairie. Feature article. Sierra Magazine.
• Sounds in the Darkness. Cover story. Chicago Wilderness Magazine.
• Ralph Frese: Urban Voyageur. Feature article. Chicago Wilderness Magazine.
• New Roots: From the Golden State to the Prairie State. Essay. Chicago Wilderness Magazine.

Children’s Education

• Hands and Faces. Poem. Celebrate English! Coursebook. Pearson Education, Asia.
• People of the Rainforest. Script for children’s educational video. ERI Communications & Schlessinger Productions.

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READINGS & PANELS

The Chicago Children’s Museum. The Flipside of Culture performances at U.C. Berkeley. Pangarap, Filipino American Literature Forum through U.C.L.A.’s Asian American Studies Department. The Uptown Writers Space.

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CURRENT WRITING PROJECTS

Fiction. A historical novel set in the sixteenth-century Philippines.

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Available at Amazon.com & PALH

Click on the anthologies for more info.