Rocket Kapre – Fantastic Filipino Speculative Fiction

Looks like there are quite a few events going down this Saturday. This one is for you budding writers out there (not necessarily of genre fic) and comes from Writer’s Block Philippines via a Facebook friend (thanks RE!):  Discussion on the Writing Profession with Butch Dalisay – “Everyone’s invited to a discussion on the WRITING PROFESSION with Butch Dalisay on January 29, 3 to 5 pm, at NBS Shangri-la Plaza Mall. Learn how to improve your craft and how to earn a living from writing with BBC’s Rico Hizon, award-winning film director Pepe Diokno and National Book Store’s Miguel Ramos. See you there!”

News of two interesting writing workshops/residencies his my feed today. However, while both are open to non-U.S. residents, they do take place in the United States, so bear that in mind.

First up (via the Philippine Genre Stories blog) is the 2010 International Writing Program (IWP) Residency. Here’s a description from the Ateneo website:

The 2010 International Writing Program (IWP) Residency is now open for nominations. The objective of this program is to bring together a wide range of international and U.S. writers to examine current trends in literature including fiction, drama, poetry, and screenwriting and to explore the creative process involved in writing. Participants will spend 10 weeks in residence at the University of Iowa presenting their work to local audiences, participating in university level workshops and working with translators. The program also includes field trips to attend literary events in order to meet and possibly collaborate with local writers and artists from other fields. Expenses of selected applicants will be covered by the embassy of the United States.Poets, fiction writers, dramatists, and screenwriters are eligible to apply. Literary translators and writers whose publications and careers focus on creative non-fiction (feature journalism, cultural commentary, biography, and memoirs) are also eligible for this program. Candidates should have at least one published volume of work or works that have appeared in significant publications over a period of at least two years. All nominees must be fluent in English, comfortable with cross-cultural dynamics, and interested in close interaction with other artists from a multiplicity of diverse cultures.

Our second item comes from the Philippine American Writers and Artists, Inc. (PAWA) Blog (which is currently open for donations): the VONA (Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation) Voices Workshop. You can see an overview of the workshops here and the application guidelines are here.  Here’s a bit about the workshop, taken from the guidelines:

The Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation at University of San Francisco invites applications from unpublished as well as published writers-of- color –anyone dreaming of writing as a serious pursuit. The Voices Writing Workshop is a special gathering of writers who spend 1-2 weeks working with authors and artists of color. This workshop honors the literary traditions of heritage and culture and promotes the styles, voices, forms and concerns of writers-of-color and their connections to the literary world. Held at The University of San Francisco, The Voices Workshop creates an intimate and interactive community with an atmosphere of sharing and engaging.

Here’s the fourth of the talks given last January 30, 2010,  during the character creation workshop at the official launch of Project 20:10 at the Ateneo High School Fair. Carlo Vergara, the creator of the phenomenal Zsazsa Zaturnnah,  should be a household name to fans of komiks, or fans of utter hilarity. In this video, he speaks of how he created the characters and the story of Zsazsa, which was eventually adapted into both a musical and a movie.

Part 2 under the cut.

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Here’s the third of the talks given last January 30, 2010,  during the character creation workshop at the official launch of Project 20:10 at the Ateneo High School Fair. Here, Kenneth Yu gives his own take on what makes for a good paranormal character, and the importance of finding a unique perspective to tell your story.

Second part after the cut: Read the rest of this entry »

Writing (and Writer) News:

• Dominique Cimafranca shares his presentation on Online Literature for the Tabaoan Writers Conference (yes, he does mentions us ^_^). The conference is ongoing at the moment, so do check Dom’s blog for coverage (he has Day 0 and Day 1 impressions up on his site.)
• Speaking of writers getting together, Ian Rosales Casocot has posted a call for submission of manuscripts to the 49th Silliman University National Writers Workshop.
• Ruin and Resolve contributor Catherine Batac Walder tells us she’s got a story out in this week’s Philippine Graphic. It’s entitled “Hey Soldier”. Congrats Catherine!
• In further congratulatory news, I’ve read that (via macoy’s blog) it seems that Gio Paredes’ Kalayaan indie superhero series might see some U.S. distribution.
• Via Yvette Tan’s, we’ve learned of Filipino Scares, a tumblr site with short (flash-length) horror stories.
• Over at the Philippine Genre Stories blog, Kenneth Yu has a post on ongoing local writing competitions, and another on a workshop for online writing from Luis Katigbak (the first is on the 15th).
• Kenneth also informs us that the launch of Philippine Speculative Fiction Vol. V will take place on April 24, 2010, 3 p.m. at the UView Theatre of Fully Booked at Bonifacio Global City.

Events:

• For those looking for a twist on typical Valentine’s fare, science writer and curator of the upcoming Mind Museum (and friend of the site) Ms. Maria Isabel Garcia dropped us a line to let us know of When Love Falls an evening of love and science on February 12, where psycho-analyst Dr. Agnes Bueno will discuss love gone awry. You can see the poster here.
• I think we’ve mentioned it before, but let me remind everyone that KomiksTrip, the first UPLB comics convention, is taking place on February 13.
• Speaking of comics, the Renaissance Project, a comics/komiks event for the benefit of Filipino artists who have fallen on hard times, seems to be pushing through on February 20 21 at the SM Megamall Megatrade hall.

Reviews:

• Some reviews of interest over at Metakritiko (which I’ll be leaving soon, unfortunately. Although I’m sure you’ll all be pleased with the new man at the helm ^_^). I take on Lola by J. Torres and Elbert Or  (it’s also been reviewed by Ruel de Vera)
• Also on Metakritiko, Fidelis Tan reviews Underpass. You can actually read her favorite story of the lot (by the Trese pair of Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo here or here). Also on the channel, Mighty Rasing reviews Legion and Marrianne Ubalde praises Kapitan Sino.

Here’s the second of the talks given last January 30, 2010,  during the character creation workshop at the official launch of Project 20:10 at the Ateneo High School Fair. This time it’s Yvette Tan imparting words of wisdom:

Second part after the cut:

Read the rest of this entry »

Last January 30, 2010, Talecraft’s Ria Lu gathered a bunch of Filipino creators to talk about creating characters (Paranormal/Supernatural characters specifically, although really, similar rules apply across the board) during the official launch of Project 20:10 at the Ateneo High School Fair. For the benefit of those who couldn’t make it, I took some footage of the talks, which I’ll be uploading (slowly, because I can haz slow internets) to the site over the next few weeks.

We’ll start off with the first speaker–me, actually. I truly find it difficult to watch a recording of myself, but I do hope that a few of you will find some use in my little dissertation on the “Five C’s of Characterization”. (Look, lawyers like mnemonics ok?) I divided the video into three parts of around eight minutes each (because apparently my awareness of time goes out the window when I start talking–sorry guys). The video quality gets a bit jittery by the third part, but the audio still stays solid.

Parts 2 and 3 after the cut.

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As I’ve mentioned before, tomorrow (Saturday), 30 January 2010, I’ll be one of the speakers at the Project 20:10 launch at at 1:00pm,  Instructional Technology Center (ITC) viewing room 2,  Ateneo de Manila, High School. Organizer Ria Lu (who I recently interviewed on Metakritiko here and here) has generously given me the complete list of speakers for the Character Building workshop that will launch the Project, and I’m honored to be in such prestigious company:

• Kenneth Yu, Philippine Genre Stories
• Yvette Tan, Waking the Dead
• Elbert Or, Lola: a Ghost Story
• Carlo Vergara, Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah

…and of course, me.

So if you’re looking for some writing tips this Saturday, looking to support local creators, or simply in search of something to do to kill time on a Saturday afternoon, come on down. If you get bored, you can always head to the fair and try to get yourself caught by the Marriage Booth or something. (They still have those at fairs right? It’s been so long @_@)

This Saturday, 30 January 2010, I’ll be one of the speakers at the Project 20:10 launch at the Ateneo High School Fair. (For those interested in the project, the first part of my interview with Ria Lu is up on Metakritiko today.) I’ll be talking about creating paranormal characters, so I thought it might be a good warm up to talk about a few more-than-human characters from Philippine Speculative fiction and komiks who I’ve found to be memorable, and to try to analyze why I found them memorable. These aren’t necessarily my favorite characters mind you, as that’s largely a matter of reader preference/affinity for particular personalities… but whether or not the reader remembers the character is, I think, something a tad more objective, and a more universal goal for creators to aspire to.

That being said, this is still a personal and subjective aggregation (and in no way comprehensive), so please feel free to suggest others in the comments.

(Images from the slider image are attributed below)

Zuma

Key words: Unity of Elements.

Why I remember him: While the fact I was so young when I first saw him is certainly a factor (nothing takes so permanent an impression as a child’s mind), the striking–yet simple–character design is probably what makes Zuma such a memorable character. While it would take years for special effects and costume technology to reach the point where heroes such as Batman and Spiderman could be rendered on-screen in a non-campy way, the 1985 Zuma film pretty much nailed its title character–not that difficult a task really, since all they needed to do was shave Max Laurel’s head, dye him green, and give him a two-headed snake. Yet those three elements were enough to convey the other-ness, the power and the malice which defined Zuma as a villain. While his costume, so to speak, is basic, every aspect of it was geared towards producing a singular impression.

(Image source: Artwork by Gilbert Monsanto)

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Filipina author and Clarion West alumni Rochita Loenen-Ruiz guest blogs over at Jeff Vandermeer’s Ecstatic Days and she takes the opportunity to look back on her Clarion experience (in a manner that makes me dearly wish we had something like it here). Here’s an excerpt:

An online friend told me that going to Clarion would be a life-changing experience. Five months after,  I am still thinking of what I’ve learned, and I can’t help but agree with her statement.

Perhaps one of the gifts that the Clarion experience bequeaths on those who attend is the ability to understand the role of mentors and comrades better. In those six weeks, my classmates and I were comrades and mentors to each other.

When I look back, I see how the exercise of scrutinizing our work and each other’s works, the act of giving words of encouragement and words of criticism, these were acts and exercises that served to strengthen our camaraderie.  Through the giving and receiving of  healthy criticism, we were able to help each other to move forward beyond the wall that kept our stories from achieving their full potential. This community we belong to is not a very large one, but it’s filled with warm and wonderful people who share generously of their knowledge and their experience.

You can read the rest of her post here. If you’ll note at the end, she mentions an anthology called “Ruin and Resolve” and that’s going to be released by none other than Rocket Kapre Books. More on that at a later date. ^_^