First post for the year;
on the verge of
- changing from a tumultuous Rat Year
to a hopeful ushering of the Year of the Ox -
the journey began a year or so ago will bear fruit…
… it is time to pack bags and settle into a new frontier -
as the adventures of the Final Frontier…
…undergoes reimagining -
and the world’s hopes pinned on change...
… and hope that, for all things we have to overcome this year and the next, Yes, we can!
Kung Hei Fat Choi!
No, it’s not about Dumbledore’s Army…
I’ll have to work on the explanation to this backwards… D.A. stands for Dean Alfar – the speculative fiction guru of the Philippine literary scene. He has won numerous Palanca awards and have been instrumental in promoting the genre of speculative fiction here in the Philippines. What is this term called “Speculative Fiction”, you say? Speculative fiction encompasses anything from science fiction, magic realism, fantasy, horror, and the in-betweens. For a better definition, here’s the wiki entry for that genre.
Dean Alfar has compiled works of Filipino authors in speculative fiction in two volumes, entitled Philippine Speculative Fiction. He also has done graphic novels along with other notable writers in Siglo: Freedom and Siglo:Passion. For a comprehensive listing of his works, check out this link and his blog.
How did I find out about Dean Alfar? Through my lovely and wonderful wife, of course! She’s a writer herself and she discovered Dean and the Philippine Speculative Fiction world that he has come to represent. My last blog entry would be a give-away as to what type of genre I love, not to mention my not-yet-blogged-about fanaticism with Star Trek. I am of the speculative fiction kind. And discovering Dean Alfar has been a breakthrough for me. I have yearned for Filipino authors to be in the Sci-fi or Fantasy shelves of bookstores. And with Dean, this will become a reality in the not-so-distant future.
To further advance his intention of spawning new, quality writers of the genre (and fiction in general), he has formed LitCritters, a Google group, where members can read story selections and critique the works, all with goal of learning and having a bit of fun in the process. The LitCritters opened their doors to the public last June 23, 2007, at A Different Kind of Bookstore, in Serendra, Fort Boni. My wife has learned about it a couple of weeks before the dat, downloaded the readings, and convinced me to join her. Believe me, it took A LOT of convincing on her part. For one thing, I was afraid of readings. It was like me going back to school! (try checking out this blog entry and you’ll get the drift). And recitations! Aghkh! The horrors of recitation!… In the end, I had no other choice but to be dragged along (OK, so I went willingly…).
It was a good thing I finished the four readings for the event. Everybody joined in and pitched their thoughts on the stories. We had great laughs and the most important thing of all, I learned A LOT. A lot about the elements of a story, the various tools for its dissection, and what makes a story great, not so great, and, um, barely passable. I learned about plot and discourse, which I didn’t know about until then. The whole event just made me excited for more, more readings. And more writings – yup, Dean said it will lead to that too.
To end this blog entry, here’s an interview of Dean in PinoyCentric – a worthwhile read if you want to know what makes him tick and how you’ll be inspired to write.
Lacuna jumping? Well, it’s a patented term from LitCritters – join in so that you’ll know what it’s all about!
