The Lack of a “Middle Ground” in Philippine Speculative Fiction
First of all, expressing my gratitude for a mention in the Carl Branson Society Blog, moderated by members of the CBS Steering Committee.
Then, getting to my first essay here. Feedback would be very welcome.
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I was reading Paul Theroux's Riding the Iron Rooster: By Train Through China and a passage there struck me: "No one writes about the future in China. We hardly think about it. There is a little science fiction, but nothing about the future."
We note that the book is copyrighted 1988, and there have been major literary revolutions all over the world since then, but I had to think it was funny that the Philippines is stuck in that exact same state. In this modern world where the Internet, MMORPGs and works of fantasy abound, Philippine future fiction is still in its infancy.
Future fiction is only an offshoot of speculative fiction, which is a fairly new genre in this country. And as a new genre it has difficulty flourising in a local media which is fraught with dichotomies. For example, we have the "highbrow" speculative fiction and graphical works rendered in English, and then we have the local "fantaseryes" in Filipino, which combine folklore based loosely on local and foreign traditions, with tried and tested soap opera formulas. The audience is trapped between these two extremes - and worse yet, they are trapped as an audience, unable to express the ideas sparked in them by the things they watch and read.
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ELMER by Gerry Alanguilan
I'm several days late in helping promote this, but here's something else to look into for an alternative comic theme:
ELMER by Gerry Alanguilan
In the author's own words:
ELMER is a window into an alternate Earth where chickens have suddenly acquired the intelligence and consciousness of humans, where they consider themselves a race no different than whites, browns or blacks, and push to recognize rights for themselves as the newest members of the human race. It tells the story of a family of chickens who live and struggle to survive in a suddenly complicated, dangerous and yet beautiful world.You can purchase copies of ELMER through Komikero Publishing and Alamat Comics. The first issue is available at ComicQuest Megamall, Comics Odyssey Robinson's Malate, and Druid's Keep in Magallanes.
Submit to the Strange Horizons Webzine
Have been posting international spec fic openings here, but if you're looking for exposure, you need not look farther than Strange Horizons, a recognized international speculative fiction publication.
The Philippines' very own Dean Alfar had a story published there, entitled L'Aquilone du Estrellas (The Kite of Stars), which also made it into the zine's 2004 Year's Best Fantasy and Horror Stories anthology published by St. Martin’s Press.
From the website:
Strange Horizons (www.strangehorizons.com) is a weekly web-based magazine of and about speculative fiction. The term "speculative fiction" refers to what is more commonly known as "sci-fi," but which properly embraces science fiction, fantasy, magic realism, slipstream, and a host of sub-genres.Interested writers may check out their submission guidelines. Fictionists are not the only ones welcome to submit - the zine also accepts poetry, art, articles and reviews!
Quatre Gats Press: Site Launch and Call for Submissions
Quatre Gats Press is a new local publishing alternative for Filipino SSFF writers. They also have an upcoming anthology that still needs contributions. As quoted from the official website:
Quatre Gats is a newly launched independent press based in the Philippines which aims to specialize in publishing innovative thematic anthologies, both fiction and non-fiction. We’ve opened up submissions for â€Tropics of Love,†an anthology of fiction based on Jose Rizal’s “Noli Me Tangere†and “El Filibusterismo.†If you’re interested in submitting for the anthology, please take a look at the submission guidelines. Deadline for submission of stories is on November 1, 2006. We’re looking at a publication date of January 2007.submission guidelines are here: http://www.quatre-gats.com/submit.html check out their blog as well: http://press.quatre-gats.com
Call for Submissions: A Field Guide to Surreal Botany
A Field Guide to Surreal Botany
Two Cranes Press is looking for submissions on the weirdest, most bizarre, most surreal floral concoctions that y'all can come up with. This will be in the style of a field guide, so you'll need to include Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species, Appearance, Growth cycle, Ecology and geographic location, &c. Be as weird as you want to be.
Payment is one cent per word, with a maximum of $5.00. Yes, it sucks, but we expect a lot of contributors (since we're recommending entries at 500 words, though we'll look at longer if they're exceptional). However, to offset the small monetary payment, you'll also get one contributor copy of the printed field guide, a certificate conveying lifetime membership in the Surreal Botanists Association, and a few other unique one-of-a-kind items not available anywhere else. We'll buy first worldwide print rights, and exclusivity for three months, after which, rights revert to the author.
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specficmarkets
specficmarkets Call for Submissions: Lethe Press Anthology
Title: Tiresias Revisited: Magical Tales for Transfolk
Edited by: JoSelle Vanderhooft
Publisher: Lethe Press
Payment: 1 cent per word, minimum 25.00 per story
Deadline: October 1, 2006
Story Length: 2,000-8,000 words. Shorter or longer works may be considered on a case-by-case basis; please query first.
What We Want: Speculative fiction featuring transgender characters prominently, as protagonists or antagonists. These can be retellings of myth and legends that feature transgender characters, retellings which put a transgender spin on old stories, or original myths and legends featuring transgender characters. These can be from any culture or time period, from Ancient Greece to the Urban Legends of 21st Century America. We want a diverse collection of stories featuring male to female and female to male transgenders, and forms of gender identification that fall outside these labels.
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