Caoile Publishes Tales from Manila Ave.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Literature and Creative Writing Patrick Joseph Caoile’s debut short story collection, Tales from Manila Ave., was recently published by Sundress Publications.

The publisher’s description of the book says “Tales from Manila Ave. traces the joys and struggles of Filipino immigrants as they navigate life and ponder identity outside their motherland,” calling its “touching reflections on community and memory” an “honest yet playful look into the intricacies of longing and belonging.”

In a review, author John McNally compared the stories in Tales from Manila Ave. to pointillist paintings, with each one revealing “its emotional depth one vivid dot at a time.

“Every story stands alone, but together they form a radiant canvas of a Filipino-American neighborhood where memory and myth live side by side,” he said.

Reviewer Randy Gonzales wrote, “In direct, fluid prose, Patrick Joseph Caoile reveals tensions between a Filipino American generation holding on to memories and traditions of a distant land and one ready for their own life.”