Philippine Literature in English

[basho]

Stuff like "Without Seeing the Dawn" by Stephan Javellena or the essays of Ambeth Ocampo, compiled in those books with cool names like "Rizal Without an Overcoat" or "Bonifacio's Bolo" are works of pure talent.

So how about it? Any cool Philippine works you've seen that's written in Engilsh?

[Ira]

May Day Eve and New Yorker in Tondo, which we took up in high school, were great.

[acridmouth]

Nick Joaquin's works are the best. Like the "May Day Eve" and "The Woman with two Navels".
F. Sionil Jose's works are exceptional also.

[uptowngirl]

basho, I enjoyed reading Rizal Without an Overcoat! :)

ang galing ng pagkagawa! :D

[Timothy]

PePs: You subscribe to Pen & Ink? But they've already halted publishing that since early last year's volume 6.

[mparaz]

Clinton Palanca was my batchmate since grade school... I usually don't read fiction, and when I do, it's usually short stories... try the "Dream Noises" anthology (published late last year), a friend of mine has a story there.

[Zen]

Yikes *visions of her Philippine Literature subject* :P~
I remember liking Azucena Grajo-Uranza's play "Go Rider!", N. V. M. Gonzalez's short story "Farmer in the Sunset", Edilberto K. Tiempo's novel "To Be Free" and Nick Joaquin's short story "Summer Solstice" :)

Sabi ni PePs:
I like Clinton Palanca's work too. Does anyone else subscribe to Pen & Ink?

Hmmm yun nga rin ang alam ko, na wala nang Pen & Ink kse lugi na sila. PePs, ano yan magic subscription?

[OtchO]

I just finished reading Po-on by F. Sionil Jose' , galing! :D

[asterisk]

The Rosales Saga (5 novels) of F. Sionil Jose is okay. They are now being published by Random House and are available in bookstores.

"The Dogeaters" and "The Gangster of Love" by Jessica Hagedorn (but really Fil-Am)

"Catch A Falling Star," collection of short stories by Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo. Her several volumes of travel essays are great and a must read.

"The Collected Works of Lina Flor" edited by Soledad Reyes

"The Literary Biography of Angela Manalang Gloria" by Edna Zapanta Manlapaz. A great work of literary history, which is hard to come by in this country which neglects its own literature, or doesn't read literature altogtaher. :(

"The Complete Poems" by Angela Manalang Gloria. Great traditional poems in the tradition of Sara Teasdale and others.

Of course, the books of Ambeth Ocampo, who can make history and literature magical, which they really are.

[basho]

I wonder if anyone here knows of the works of Alejandrino Hufana. Not only is he a great poet and essay-ist, but also a marvelous columnist.

[§ínned™]

May bagong book na ba si Roel Hoang Manipon? :)

§inned™

[bugsbunny]

"Coming Home" by Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo is good. Its a collection of narratives when she was still in other countries and when she came back.

Tony Perez is good! have you guys read his books? hes really good!

[bugsbunny]

i forgot to add the books by Lualhati Bautista particularly, Dekada 70, Gapo and Bata Bata Pano Ka Ginawa but I think the best book among these three would have to be Gapo.

[asterisk]

basho, Alejandrino Hufana is a great poet more than anything else. He was director of the National Library and the UP Creative Writing Center. His books slipped my mind. I'll write it down when I remember.

Sinned, Roel Hoang Manipon haven't yet published a book, but he is preparing three: a book of perosnal essays, a collection of short stories and a book of Philippine urban legends. He is more involved with the urban legends thing, doing research and all. For more information about him, you can read a feature article about him in the upcoming issue of the new fahsion magazine "The Style Paper Forecast." He, by the way, writes regularly for the Philippine Post.

[§ínned™]

Asterisk, I am really looking forward to reading a Roel Hoang Manipon book. Where can I get The Style Paper Forecast? Is he also going to publish his poetry compendium? Can you tell us something more about this prolific writer? :)

§inned™

[asterisk]

As I gathered from the literary circles here, it will take Roel quite a long while before publishing his poetry collection. I think he may be looking for a coherent theme to bind the collection together. And he is more involved with writing fiction, being fascinated with the role and importance of storytelling and stories in the history and psyche of mankind. You may satisfy yourself with occasional poems published in the national magazines. BTW, the UST Creative Writing Center just released its literary journal called Tomas, he has a children's story there.

I think "Style Paper Forecast" is available only here in the Phils and parts of Asia. if ever I got a copy I'll send one, but I think you would be here by now. Is it? :)

[§ínned™]

This Tomas journal is new to me. Is this different from the folio The Flame had before? Does Tomas publish works by UP, Silliman and Ateneo writers too?

§inned™

[asterisk]

Well you can say that Tomas and The Flame folio are the same in the sense that they only publish literature. But they are different publications, one is published by the Center and the other is a student organ. Tomas is dedicated to the writings of Thomasians both student and alumni, or anyone connected to the pontifical university by any means, like being a faculty.

[§ínned™]

Yeah, I remember you telling me about the UST Writing Center. The Flame is always the one responsible in publishing campus literature kasi.

I was looking for some C. Pantoja-Hidalgo books online and I couldn't find one.

§inned™

[asterisk]

Wala sa Amazon? Try mo ang Barnes & Noble

[JDELEON]

Viajero... F.Sionil Jose

Aren't we all just travelers of time and place?

Too bad I disagree with Mr. Jose's politics.

May Angels smile upon you,
Joe

[asterisk]

Bakit ka naghahanap ng books ni Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo? Actually I have almost all of her books:

NonFiction/Travel Essays

SOJOURNS
I REMEMBER...TRAVEL ESSAYS
FIVE YEARS IN A FORGOTTEN KINGDOM: A BURMESE NOTEBOOK
SKYSCAPERS, CELADON AND KIMCHI: A KOREAN NOTEBOOK
FILIPINO WOMAN WRITING: HOME AND EXILE IN THE AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NARRATIVES OF TEN WRITERS
PATHS OF THE HEART
COMING HOME

Fiction/Short Stories

BALLAD OF A LOST SEASON
TALES FOR A RAINY NIGHT
WHERE ONLY THE MOON RAGES
CATCH A FALLING STAR

Fiction/Novel

RECUERDO: A NOVEL

[basho]

Thanks, asterisk. He's actually my grandfather and is very flattered by your post. :)

[asterisk]

basho, no way! really? Is he based in the U.S. right now? I read his essay on writing poetry in Ricardo de Ungria's "A Passionate Patience." How about you, do you write? Glad to meet someone related to a great writer! Meeting via this, I mean.

[basho]

sinned and asterisk:

I'm supposed to see him this summer, but I got summer classes. My mother and siblings are going there on April 29.

I'm not sure if he taught in UST, although I know he did not confine his teachings in UP alone. He taught in many universities and even lectured in some schools abroad. He's a Rokerfeller scholar and taught in Columbine University in the States, so I wouldn't be suprised if he held some classes in UST. I think some of his collegues like Larry Francia and Isagani Cruz teach there. I know they teach in La Salle because I saw thier name once when I checked for grades distribution.

Anyway, grandpa still contributes for the Raven's folio and is working on a new book.

[basho]

asterisk:

He's an American and is now in the States because his doctor told him that the climate here can kill him. It's sad really: when his mother, my great-grandmother, died, he wanted so much to come home but he really couldn't. He calls it "silent hurt". He doesn't really like America and rather be in his home province of La Union writing and painting. I talked with him on the phone last night and told him about PeX. I also mentioned your post. He wonders if you might have been a former student of his.

Anyway, I myself try to write once and a while. My grandpa and I paint whenever we're together. That's about it, I guess.

[§ínned™]

Basho, it's a touching story, really. Have you seen him? I don't think he taught in UST during the 90s. Asterisk and I were classmates at the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters.

§inned™

[asterisk]

basho, I second Sinned. That is really touching. I wish there is another artist in the family. I envy you, basho. But then again, I consider all writers and artists, more or less relative, a kiship in the spirit. Without really knowing it, senior artists have children in the world aside from their blood children, because they offer their souls to the world.

No, I am not one of his students. I just happen to be a writer and know generations of writers and artists by heart, but not all personally though. One should not be a student to know a very good writer... That's the tragedy here in the Philippines. People do not recognize or acknowledge their writers after a short while. Even the current the writers are not really known or famous, maybe to only a few, aside from the literary circles.

It is only now that I collect old books and magazines, because they can perish here in the Philippines. I have the "Sinag" or something book and the journal "Jose." They are published only in the 80s but has become rare or very hard to find these days, because people don't care. :( That's where I got to know your grandfather. And also I have Gemino Abad's "A Native Clearing," which is part of the trilogy which traces the history of Philippine Literature in English. An admiringly monumental book. Very much needed.

By the way, will your grandfather publish any more books, maybe a compendium of his selected poetry through the years?

I would like to meet him someday. And I wish him all of life's goodness. Hope you continue and/or preserve the legacy of your grandfather because it is also the our legacy, the whole nation's, even if most doesn't really care. I fervently hope that they will someday!

As Sinned would say, "Pura Vida!"

[This message has been edited by asterisk (edited 04-17-2000).]

[asterisk]

From Three Poems

2. MEANWHILE IN AMERICA

Meanwhile, in America, we neter weather, life,
togther as a pair: I in exile, kin to lost lamb
in the boil of snowflakes fired perking high over
a hunched skull hill be levelling blizzard; you in
a cleft of heal-all, in the self-same hunt
that reeks of bones their revived designs.
Your bakc is given me to see your hoary hand
lifts so I won't see you up front and die.
Your ancient back is of our own hunting one another made
and of thawing bark, seed and skin for hectic trade.

The world's way is cold clood stopping a snake's hole.
Aye, America, forbidding as a whole for its toxic spell
on the seasonal oyster which, eaten, salvages its use
as from the bore of a lawlessly wielded gun.
It tears into the lamb's fleece, where I understand
all our secret dreams of possessing earth
are displayed while they last as a pledge
or yet as a will. there, off its load of stones,
history cuts corners with my mortal isolation
only to hunt like us, bucking one another, dear life.

[asterisk]

The above poem is by ALEJANDRINO HUFANA

some of his works

Poetry

13 Kalisud (1955)
Sickle Season (1959)
Poro Point (1961)
Sieg Heil (1974)
Obligations/Cheers of Consciousness (1975)
Imelda Romuladez Marcos: A Tonal Epic (1975)
Shining On (1985)

Plays

Curtain Raisers (1968)

Non-Fiction

Notes on Poetry (1972)

AWARDS

Republic Cultural Heritage Award, 1965
Parangal of the Writers Union of the Philippines, 1984

[§ínned™]

"...history cuts corners with my mortal isolation only to hunt like us, bucking one another, dear life..."

This last part cuts flesh and grips hearts!!!

§inned™

[basho]

here here!! :)


[This message has been edited by basho (edited 04-18-2000).]

[asterisk]

basho, where art thou? (confidential vijdaq info deleted) :D

[This message has been edited by asterisk (edited 06-04-2000).]

[ebtg]

This is a beautiful thread. basho, you're so lucky. I certainly hope you know that. http://www.pinoyexchange.com/smokin.gif

I like Tony Perez's Cubao-Kalaw, Kalaw-Cubao best among his "Cubao" novels. He's so contemporary. The language is conversational, as if drawing from the common folk's soul.

Danton Remoto's and J. Neil C. Garcia's works are really a good read, too. People shun their works because they think it's another "gay" book, but not all issues inside them are about the alternative lifestyles.

Clinton Palanca...sheer magic.

Filipinos are great writers, really.

[asterisk]

before vijdaq floor me again...
:D

Forgive me? :)

[This message has been edited by asterisk (edited 06-04-2000).]

[§ínned™]

Bawiin ba, asterisk? Wala na nakilala ko na si Carlos. :D

By the way, I am looking for books written by Costa Ricans. Oh well, such a hard endeavor, asterisk, but I will try harder next time.

§inned™

[asterisk]

Hay Sinned! Tagal mong nawala ah! Baka wala talagang literary happenings sa Costa Rica. But that's impossible! Kung 'yung small island republic of Sta. Lucia nakapag-produce ng Nobel laureate na si Derek Walcott, and Costa Rica pa!

[copita]

it's my first time here. i'm supposed to be the 5000th member. my fave pinoy author is kerima polotan. she wrote the novel the hand of the enemy. she also wrote this short story "the virgin." she's the greatest. for poetry, i like luisa carino (now igloria) and fatima lim. angela manalang gloria rocks too.
there's this book, umbrella country, which i hear is making waves internationally.

[asterisk]

The author of Umbrella Country is Bino Realuyo, who has been in the country recently. His book is now available in Powerbooks and National.

[jack]

i read without seeing the dawn by javellana..i find it nice.

[asterisk]

It is heartwarming to know that Filipinos read Philippine literature and old works like Javellana's Without Seeing the Dawn.

[damaris]

does not anybody ever remember the haunting but often humourous poems/stories of THE carlos Bulosan? For he is the ultimate filipino writer.Especially, America is in the Heart.My heart bleeds everytime I read him. "why are u crying? we are hungry too."
Writing in english, somehow uproots the filipino writer from his philippine setting, but he succeeded in avoiding that. Most of all, he translated the universality of Filipino values.

[jean!e]

A Blade of Fern by Edith Tiempo http://www.pinoyexchange.com/goon.gif

[jean!e]

http://www.pinoyexchange.com/boom.gifThe Cubao Series by Tony Perez, Cubao Midnight Express especially. http://www.pinoyexchange.com/boom.gif

[sadirmata]

Originally posted by asterisk:
basho, Alejandrino Hufana is a great poet more than anything else. He was director of the National Library and the UP Creative Writing Center. His books slipped my mind. I'll write it down when I remember.


AG Hufana has a book of poetry "Dumanon (Welcome)" containing his Iluko poems and English translation, published by the UP Press in 1994. it's good, you'll marvel at his great skill of translating original Iluko verses into English with almost perfectly the same nuance and cadence! of course, you'll appreciate the thing most if you are an Ilokano or if you understand the Iluko language...

[asterisk]

Are you Ilocano sadirmata?

[jean!e]

I like Dead Stars....the idea of building up your hopes and faith on something and finding out that it was merely an illusion is heartbreaking.

[BchyGrl]

i like reading filipino writers in english. but i would have to say that my favorite short story writers are jessica zafra (the manananggal book she should write more of her stories), lakambini sitoy and estrella alfon.
as for the novelists, ninotchka rosca and jessica hagedorn are interesting, though the great filipino novel has yet to be written, lest we be stuck with jose rizal forever.

[BchyGrl]

"The Literary Biography of Angela Manalang Gloria" by Edna Zapanta Manlapaz. A great work of literary history, which is hard to come by in this country which neglects its own literature, or doesn't read literature altogtaher. :(

her intention is noble but her execution and research methods leave much to be desired.

[asterisk]

The Angela Manalang Gloria book of Zapanta have received some negative comments, yes. It is written under the tenets of New Biography, a literary movement that says that biography is not the life of the subject, but the author's (biographer's) story on the life of the subject. In this respect, the book is often misunderstood.

Hampering also the outcome of literary history and biography research here in the country is that people do not preserve things that may be one day be important in research. We don't have that mentality. We should cultivate this.

[red_door8]

1. F.Sionil Jose's "My Brother, My Executioner"
2. The Avocado Tree
3. How my Cousin Manuel Brought Home a Wife
4. Nick Joaquin's poems

[*happy*phantom*]

This thread reads like a who's who of Philippine literature. What a list! I should add, though, that Zita by Arthur Rotor was and still is a personal favorite.

[ibalik]

first and foremost:

VIAJERO by F. Sionil Jose
*this is a good book for those who are on away from inang bayan, and who are in a verge of 'finding themselves'. (or at least for me, it came at the right time). Mr Jose has his way of making fiction sounding like non-fiction by adding real life character to his story, like ninoy aquino.

AMERICA IS IN THE HEART by Carlos Bulosan
*if you live in the states, particulary in california, you might find this book interesting. itll change the way you look at yourself and the importance of the contributions of first wave immigrants in america.

[Cerberus]

For some of us, reading Philippine Literature can be an acquired taste.

I've grown to like...

Cirilio Bautista for his Epic Poetry.
Nick Joaquin for historical and biographical prose.
Resil Mojares for his essays in English.
Ophelia Dimalanta for her Poetry (I recently bought
one of her collected poetry books Our voices, Our zones)

It's acquired for me because it took quite some time before I actively read works by Philippine writers.

:)

[pyrecatcher]

Maningning Miclat is a poet of the first order, if I am asked. Her works, though raw, can be trusted. It's fine art.

[eaglion]

Love the works of Bautista, Joaquin, Dimalanta, Sionil Jose, and especially Jose Garcia Villa :p

I am currently collecting the works of these Literary Barkadas:

* The Veronicans - Arcellana, Gonzales, Alfon

* The Ravens (circa 1950s)

* The "Bagay" Poets (this group I believe originated in Ateneo)

[torquemada]

fiction:
butch dalisay, particularly 'sarcophagus,' 'penmanship'
charlson ong, 'woman of am-***,' 'conversion'
ninotchka rosca, 'bitter country,' 'monsoon colection,' 'state of war'

poetry
eric gamalinda, 'lyrics from a dead language,' 'zero gravity'
ricky de ungria, 'decimal places,' 'body english'
marjorie evasco, 'dreamweavers,' 'ochre tones'
luisa igloria, 'blood sacrifice'
rayvi sunico, 'bruise: a two-tongue job'

essay
butch dalisay, 'the best of barfly'

anthology
ricky de ungria (ed) 'luna caledonia: five filipino writers in hawthornden castle' - includes rofel brion, marjorie evasco, krip yuson, ricky de ungria, and eric gamalinda

[pyrecatcher]

For me a good poet can teach. Those included in the book 'A Passionate patience' have an edge to my taste.

Also Marra P.L. Lanot in Filipino, so refreshing! But her English is so complex, very academic.

[sadirmata]

Originally posted by asterisk
Are you Ilocano sadirmata?

i am, asterisk... and most of the things i write, iluko or ilocano...

[Cerberus]

Eric Gamalinda still teaches in NYC right?

[cesar10022]

Has any one read and would any one give feedback on the novel Dogeaters by Jessica Hagedorn? Is it more promising than the adaptation she did for stage, if the following review by a New York theater critic is anything to go by?

Review of Jessica Hagedorn's Dogeaters (the play)

By John Simon
New York Magazine
March 19, 2001

Jessica Hagedorn, a Philippines-born performance artist and writer, has adapted her novel Dogeaters into what is nominally a play. Contrary to popular belief, novels do not readily lend themselves to such dislocation; it is rather like trying to turn a German shepherd into a Yorkie.

Miss Hagedorn has clearly made an organizing effort: She has compressed three decades into the year 1982, has used surtitles to establish kaleidoscopic Manila and other locales, and has pruned the number of characters. Even so, the play has 33 parts performed by fifteen actors, which is tough on author, cast, and audience alike. The doubling adds to the confusion, as do some references too arcane for Americans. Thick accents, during the frequently shouted dialogue, congeal the opacity as too many characters are doing barely sketched-in things. It takes great art from a playwright and actors to make sense of such a swirling zoetrope of a play, and great art is conspicuous here by its absence. Dogeaters is for folks who groove on comic strips.

The thinness of the characters is matched by the ponderousness of the satire. How many times can a couple of shallow radio personalities chime in with glitzy spiel after some odious rape or murder? Why are all the principals weird: a half-black male ***** and druggie who kills his uncle; a terminally swish hairdresser; a transvestite disco-and-coffee-shop manager; a smilingly exploitative nabob; a ruthless general who arranges the torture and gang rape of Daisy Avila, beauty queen and girlfriend of a murdered Communist; the general's ceaselessly praying wife, forever on her knees; and Daisy's father, the crusading Senator Avila, likewise murdered -- twice, both early and late in the play?

There are also the author's boring alter ego, her whinily desperate father, a naïvely amorous cinema cashier and her no-less-naïve boyfriend who dreams of movie stardom and ditches her, an oozingly oily radio heartthrob, and sundry others, including R. W. Fassbinder, guest of Imelda Marcos's Manila International Film Festival, and Imelda herself, who does not show off her shoe collection, thus robbing the play of what might have been its chief interest.

The big scenes -- Senator Avila urging his near-catatonic daughter to escape while she can, that same daughter turned guerrilla in the mountains and trying to coax an account of her father's shooting from its only witness, the male prostitute -- fall as flat as the rest. In the curtain line, the author herself declares, "My soap opera continues -- the soap opera of the Philippines continues." Trying to crossbreed cynical and sentimental, you end up with cartoonish. Perhaps the whole thing would have sounded better in Tagalog.

Michael Greif, who commissioned this mess, directed it as caricaturally as it was written, which is probably the only way. The usually clever set designer David Gallo tried hard for his customary merriment, but the invention (or was it the money?) runs out. Costumes (Brandin Barón) and lighting (Michael Chybowski) are apt, but can only provide this Manila with an envelope empty of genuine content. Someone in the play speaks of teaching creative writing to autistic children; on the evidence of Dogeaters, there is hope for them.

[Cerberus]

Pahabol...

Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo for her novel Recuerdo.

:)

[harley quinn]

I read F. Sionil Jose's Dusk (Po-on) about a month ago and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It almost read like G. Marquez' Hundred Years of Solitude. Or is that blasphemy to Marquez' fans?:redsmile:

[sadirmata]

nabasa niyo na ba ang My Sad Republic ni Eric Gamalinda, at ang Embarassment of Riches ni Charlson Ong? anong comments niyo? bibili kasi ako ng mga books na ito... at saka yung Mass For The Death Of An Enemy ni Renato E. Madrid, maganda ba?

[Cerberus]

sadirmata: Not yet. It's already been out there on the shelves for some time now. Heh---medyo discouraging yung large book presentation. *LOL* They should have condensed it in a smaller---albeit more reader friendly format. Quality? Seeing it took home top honors in it's category in the Centennial Literary Awards, it has got to be good. ;)

[walangdila]

the present scene of philippine literature in english is disappointing. nobody writes about the Philippines i know, as it exists today. oh well new writers do but they are discouraged by the nonchalance of the society disregarding their works.

[*happy*phantom*]

Originally posted by Cerberus
sadirmata: Not yet. It's already been out there on the shelves for some time now. Heh---medyo discouraging yung large book presentation. *LOL* They should have condensed it in a smaller---albeit more reader friendly format. Quality? Seeing it took home top honors in it's category in the Centennial Literary Awards, it has got to be good. ;)

I second the motion. :D

[crab_sushi]

Originally posted by jean!e
I like Dead Stars....the idea of building up your hopes and faith on something and finding out that it was merely an illusion is heartbreaking.

yeah, i like Dead Stars too!

Sa fiction naman, I've read Ermita and My Brother, My Executioner by F. Sionil Jose. *okay*

[Cerberus]

I'm currently reading Literature and Society by Lopez. :)

[Cerberus]

I'm currently reading Literature and Society by Lopez. :)

[eydryth]

marjorie evasco
cirilo bautista
ricardo de ungria
angela manalang gloria
edith tiempo
ophelia dimalanta
gilda cordero fernando
manuel arguilla
estrella alfon
bienvenido santos
nick joaquin
kerima polotan tuvera
.... this list could go on and on.....

if you have time, these are recommended readings: :)
state of war by ninotchka rosca
kung ibig mo, love poetry by women writers
ochre tones by marj evasco
luna caledonia - hawthorden poets
sounds of sunday by kerima polotan tuvera
dead stars - paz marquez benitez
summer solstice - nick joaquin
how my brother leon brought home a wife - arguilla
the dust monster - gilda cordero
pedagogic - cirilo bautista
order for masks - virginia moreno

GREAT GREAT works all! :) happy reading

i could read this over and over and always find something new in them...

[shadowboxer]

There's this neat freshman high school textbook used by the batch 91-93 kids before... a black one entitled "Insights", as far as I can remember, that contained some of eydryth's recommended short story readings. It's a neat book... very engaging & enriching... along with this blue "Speech & Drama" book as well as Gregorio Zaide's "World History". :D Too bad I dunno if I can get another copy of that pa in this day & age. :(

[Adi]

Eydryth, I like women writers too. There's something with the way they write. Ms. Evasco happens to be my teacher. She's really good:) And gay writers. Most people do shun their works but really some of them are good. And besides, they do write about other subjects, not only about gay experiences. Danton Remoto's Skin Voices Faces and J. Neil Garcia's The Sorrows of Water is not entirely gay:)

[f0r5aK3n]

I could get into this. Pilipino authors. Now getting the books will be hard though.

Any of em write Sci/Fi? :)

[turquoise]

Krip Yuson's "Great Philippine Jungle Energy Cafe." Erotic, brainy, hallucinogenic.

Any of Greg Brillantes' short stories - one or two find their way into college textbooks.

I used to carry Ricky de Ungria's "Decimal Places" to work. A poem over lunch felt like those steaming hot towels they give you in the plane after take-off.

Filipino "future fiction" (as the Palancas call speculative/science fiction) is rather difficult to validate as such, I believe. Does throwing in a dash of Tagalog or a Pateros setting qualify SF as Filipino? Or is the only qualification the citizenship of the author? t's not as if Stanislaw Lem was a star of "Polish science fiction." Or Asimov hailed as the father of "Jewish science fiction." (Although he was fond of putting in a mazel tov or two.)

So far, famous Filipinos in science fiction would be Heinlein's lead character in Starship Troopers, and I guess that Filipino barbecue guy in Mars Attacks. ;-)

I think we are making greater strides in comics, which are close (some would say inbred) relatives of SF. Whilce Portacio immediately comes to mind. Wetworks could have been written as a series of short stories.

[quickbrwnfox]

kelangan ko TULONG!!!1

we have a project for our phil. lit subject. nagpapa book report yung prof namen. i need to find book with a pinoy author pero english ang language.

can somebody recommend anybook? MANIPIS lang pls, atsaka easy to understand. thanks !!

[Jaymee_13]

[i]Danton Remoto's and J. Neil C. Garcia's works are really a good read, too. People shun their works because they think it's another "gay" book, but not all issues inside them are about the alternative lifestyles.

Filipinos are great writers, really.

finally... someone who likes J. Neil's works (and also Danton Remoto). i like their works because it always seems so fresh and natural, you know? :)

i am completing J. Neil's books. what have you read? :)

[[hbw]insomnia]

i like the way F. Sionil Jose writes his novels. very fluid and with a lot of interesting characters. i've read three books of the Rosales saga: Po-on, The Pretenders, and Mass. i've also read Viajero and i'm still trying to get around to finishing his collection of short stories, Olvidon. personally, my most favorite novel among all of his works is Mass; very moving; a little better than Viajero, which is another great novel.