2. Looking beyond: The Future of Philippine
Literature
Philippine literature is constantly evolving,
which means that there are more outputs in
which you as a student will enjoy in the near
future. One of these is the comic book
industry, which is a good way for you to read
and be informed in a creative and enjoyable
manner.
3. The comics or komiks, as it is known in the Philippines,
is one of the most beloved forms of published work.
4. Carlo Vergara’s Ang
Kagilas-gilas na
Pakikipagsapalara
n ni Zsazsa
Zaturnnah has won
the National Book
Award in 2003,
despite being self-
published in 2002.
5. Here are 3 of the latest genres
emerging in Philippine
literature and examples of
their literary works.
6. Speculative fiction-
This is an umbrella term in the
country's literature that includes all
genres of horror, fantasy, science fiction,
magical realism, and other nonrealist
genres.
7. Avant-garde poetry –
These are poems that push the
boundaries of what is expected as the
norm. In that sense, these kinds of
poems experiment with form, phrasing,
idea, imagery, and the like.
8. Contemporary essay –
The contemporary essay nowadays
is unrestricted and explores diverse
topics such as dysfunctional
families. LGBT issues, terrorism,
religion and or faith.
9. - Dean Francis Alfar is the co-editor and publisher of
the yearly Philippine Speculative Fiction anthology.
His novels and short stories have won him several
national awards--including a total of 10 Don Carlos
Palanca Awards. His publications have been global,
with his own short stories being published in other
international journals.
Six from Downtown
By: Dean Francis Alfar
10. - Shakira Sison won the First Prize Don Carlos
Palanca Award for the English Essay last 2013
for "The Kraukauer Table." She was a
veterinarian before she relocated to New York
in 2002, where she now currently works in the
finace industry.
Can We Get Rid of "Filipino Time"?
By Shakira Sison
11. - Conchitina Cruz is a Filipina poet who teaches creative and writing
and comparative literature at the University of the Philippines-Diliman.
She graduated magna cum laude from the Creative Writing Program,
and a valedictorian from the College of Arts and Letters in 1998. She
has received a Fulbright grant for her Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in
Creative Writing in the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is
currently talking up her PhD in the State University of New York
(SUNY), Albany. She has published several poetry books such as Dark
Hours and Elsewhere Held and Lingered.
Permit us to refresh your memory
By: Conchitina Cruz
12. Permit us to refresh your memory: what comes from heaven is always a blessings, the
enemy is not the rain. Rain is the subject of prayer, the kind gesture of saints. Dear City.
explain your irreverence: in you, rain is a visitor with nowhere to go. Where is the
ground that knows only the love of water? What are the passageways to your heart? Pity
the water that stays and rises on the streets, pity the water that floods into houses, so
dark and filthy and heavy with rats and dead leaves and plastic. How ashamed water is
to be what you have made it. What have you done to its beauty, its graceful body in
pictures of oceans, its dear face in a glass? We walk home and cannot see our feet in the
flood. We forget to thank the gods for their kindness. We look for someone to blame
and turn to you, wretched city, because we are men and women of honor, we feed our
children three meals a day, we never miss an election. The only explanation is you, dear
city. This is the end of our discussion. There is no other culprit.
PERMIT US TO REFRESH YOUR MEMORY
BY CONCHITINA CRUZ
