Clarissa Trinidad Gonzalez was born and raised in Manila, where she grew up steeped in her family’s colourful personalities and stranger-than-fiction stories.

She worked in the advertising industry, honing her craft as a copywriter, and later became Associate Creative Director. She spent a good part of her twenties trekking around the Philippines, sampling regional food, and experiencing the joie de vivre and hospitality of her fellow Filipinos from Batanes to Mindanao.

She moved to Canada in the mid-nineties and worked as a technical designer for a Canadian retailer. She now works as a communications professional. She studied creative writing at the University of Toronto and published some poetry in Variety Crossing journal, as well as online publications.

When she’s not writing, she likes to keep the memories of Philippine kitchens alive in her home in South Etobicoke, where she cocoons with her spouse and daughter as they plot their next family adventure.