Philippine Speculative FictionOctober 2007
Philippine Speculative FictionOctober 2007

Month: October 2007

Conventions and EBs

NWA5 Writers Forum

bhex
Attended the NWA5 forum as promised. Was only able to get away with two poor-quality pictures. I'm sure others have gotten better.

[the panelists, from left to right: Tobie Abad, Kenneth Yu and Joseph Nacino] Later in the day, Professor Emil Flores joined the panel.

[from left to right: Kenneth Yu, Prof. Flores and Joey Nacino] A lot of interesting ideas were brought up, but I'm afraid I have to plead guilty to not having heard much because of the bad acoustics. Charles, however, has three blog posts inspired by the event, and even has a pretty audible recording of the talk linked to this post. It was a great gathering - I wish there was more time to get to know everyone and better hear each other out. Well, maybe next time :) After the Writers Forum, there was also a talk on science fiction in Philippine cinema, led by Quark Henares, but I'm afraid I only had so much time out of doors yesterday, so I wasn't able to attend. Can anyone point me to an account of what went on in that talk? And in case anyone at the Writers Forum was wondering about the guy with the red lightsaber through his head, it was artist extraordinaire Paul Idario:

...and in this pic, he holds up a kickass original print made by him, and a magazine cover featuring this artwork. I've put up some pics on this particular page of this fansite. I love Paul's art and I love this series. PS: have you taken the quiz? I'd love to know who you got.
Special Announcements

More Spec Fic News

bhex
  1. Charles has transcribed the PGS interview at Jam 88.3 at his blog.He's also recorded the latest LitCritters session at Serendra, where three PGS stories (including Charles' own story, "The Devil is in the Details") were discussed. Many thanks for your diligence, as always, Charles :)

  2. Two new Kare-Kare Comics by Andrew Drilon out: Two Tiny Things and What Will You Bring?.Awesome stuff! And awfully symbolic, that last one, what? :D

  3. Mention of The Kite of Stars in Fantastic fiction writer Anna Tambour's blog.

  4. Mention of various Philippine spec fic writers and artists - namely Gerry Alanguilan, Dean and Nikki Alfar, Stanley Geronimo, Francezca Kwe, Vin Simbulan and Joshua Lim So - by Ellen Datlow and Jeff Vandermeer. Details here.Congrats, guys!

  5. New Worlds 5 is pushing through in spite of the recent bombing scare. Some security regulations are in place, however - attendees are encouraged to observe.See you there!
InterviewsSpecial AnnouncementsWorkshops

Spec Fic-Related Announcements

bhex
1. From Philippine Genre Stories:
There will be a feature and interview on October 18, 2007, on the radio station Jam 88.3, for PGS. It will be from 8 to 9 in the evening. I'll be there, on-air, with PGS contributor Miggy Escaño, author of the cover story for PGS3, Tuko. Hope you have the time to tune-in and listen!
2. Don't forget, the LitCritters will be holding their next Open Session on October 20, at A Different Bookstore in Serendra. Everyone's welcome to attend. 3. The Writers Forum panelists for New Worlds 5: The 5th Philippine Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention, have been revealed! For their names and the forum schedule, click here.
Comic ArtConventions and EBsPhilippine publicationsSpecial Announcements

Comics and Manga Day 2007, and a Question

bhex
Gotten from Komiks.ph:

Saturday, October 20, 2007 1pm-6pm Powerbooks, SM MEGAMALL FREE ENTRANCE! featuring artists in the field of comics and manga. - panel discussions - signings and autographs with the artists - sketching - raffle prizes - comics and art lectures - portfolio reviews - art shows and exhibits - drawing exhibition - and much more!
Read more about it here.
Still related to komiks, I have a question: Is it still correct to say Philippine speculative fiction is a "young" genre, when we have been printing fantastic stories for over a century - although mostly in komiks form, not in prose form? Are our komiks traditions and literary traditions so distant from each other that we can't draw any relationships? Or is a literary tradition that spans a little over 100 years still considered "young"? I'm just wondering. It doesn't seem like many modern fictionists in the Philippines like to build on what our predecessors have made, at least not our predecessors in komiks. And classic fantastic komiks were also largely influenced by foreign lore and literature, like our current writings. There are a lot of parallels, I think... In short, I'm asking if when we say "the history of Philippine speculative fiction," we should also discuss speculative fiction in the form of komiks? Or should we stick to prose only?
EssaysNew ReleasesPhilippine publicationsShort StoriesSpecial Announcements

Two Ways to Write Science Fiction, and Some Announcements

bhex
1. Mia and Charles both recently made posts related to writing science fiction:
  • More Notes on Science and Writing - Mia shares what she sees are possible angles for good science fiction stories. An abridged version of this entry may be found at the Read or Die blog. Share your own ideas!
  • Writing Science Fiction - Charles tells about how the heart of a science fiction story is not actually the science. I find this essay comforting, because while science fiction fascinates me the most, I don't think I can write hard science to save my life :P Not right now, anyway!
2. via Kenneth: Vin Simbulan's short story "Silverio And The Eidolon" has come out in the October 13, 2007 issue of the Philippines Free Press. 3. Read or Die tells about its upcoming events.
EssaysPhilippine publicationsSpecial Announcements

Some Links

bhex
1. Not related to Philippine spec fic per se, but Chris Garcia writes interesting things about the possibilities of fostering a love for science fiction among Hispanic readers, in "Building Science Fictionistas." 2. Charles starts a vote and recommend new stories meme. Not being up to date on a lot of works published this year, I'm afraid I can't participate - but I'd sure love to know which works everyone else nominates. Banzai Cat has already posted his recommendation. Anyone else? 3. Kenneth of Philippine Genre Stories says that in the next Manila LitCritters session, there will be a critique session for 3 stories from PGS3. In the same entry, he asks if we could bring up examples of stories that we like (or don't like) that may fall under "Philippine" fiction, speculative or realist. Read his entry here. 4. Dean and Nikki Alfar post the Philippine Speculative Fiction vol. 3 TOC. My story "The Singer's Man" will be there. And no, it is not what I consider to be a "Filipino" speculative story :) I've already expressed my gratitude to the Alfars over SMS, but I'd like to do that again here. Maraming salamat po, Sir Dean at Ma'am Nikki!
Essays

“Filipino” Spec Fic: We’re Nowhere Near Done Talking About This

bhex
What I love about email and blogging is that you have enough time to talk, not like in real life where the one who talks the most wins, and winning means hogging everybody else's air time. Here we can all present our sides and explain ourselves better. So I'm going to try and explain some of the points I previously made, and analyze some of the trends I've noticed. Again, I'm not trying to represent a group or way of thinking here, I can only speak for myself. This is how I view the nature of Filipino spec fic, and I'm happy to know that some people share my views, but this doesn't mean I'm imposing it on others. I just hate having words put into my mouth. (more…)
Short Stories

Upcoming Short Stories by Nikki Alfar and Kenneth Yu

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My powers of observation fail me. I failed to take note when Kenneth and Dean posted about Nikki Alfar's short story coming out in Fantasy Magazine later this year (Winter 2007/2008 issue). The latest news from the US-based Fantasy Magazine is that they will be converting from a quarterly print format to a weekly online format beginning this November. Does this mean we'll be able to read Nikki's work online for free? :D Speaking of November, Kenneth Yu's short story "House 1.0" is coming out next month in The Town Drunk, a monthly webzine for light-hearted spec fic. I learned about all of this from Charles' comment over at Banzai Cat's blog. Thanks, guys! Congrats, Nikki and Kenneth!
Non-Fiction

Christopher Go: a Filipino Discoverer

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Apparently, I wasn't reading the newspapers last year. I missed the story that came out on Christopher Go, the Cebu-based Filipino astronomer who discovered that a former white spot in Jupiter had turned red. He was accepted into the Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) of the American Astronomical Society in September 2006. Thanks to Charles for the info! Mr. Go's dedication as an amateur astronomer is simply inspiring. Browsing through Mr. Go's homepage, I came across the photos he took of the 2001 Leonids [ Youtube ]. I vaguely remember looking forward to this event and uh, sleeping through it ^^; Not that I had a telescope or anything, but I would've wanted to be with friends who'd gathered out in wide empty spaces just to see it. It seems it's being predicted that the next meteor storm of such a scale would occur only in 2099. I suck. Would be great to be alive in 2099 just to see that, though.