Now/here no/where woman

Towards the end of the first day of Mt Cloud Bookshop's Children's Creative Writing Workshop, I told our 9 participants: There is no such thing as something that you can't write about. You can write about anything, and you can write anything you want about it. Nobody can tell you, "You can't write about that," not your parents, not your teachers, not your grandmother. That's why you have your own notebook that nobody can touch. I saw the glint in their eyes, these writers aged 8 to 14. They bent down over their notebooks and began scribbling. Kids like dangerous ideas. This is a good thing. We jaded grownups shouldn't mess with that. Dangerous ideas should be encouraged in children. We don't want them to turn into docile sheep or cattle following the herd. We want them to make a difference when it's their turn to run the world, or at least to write it. And I think these kids will.

A fish tail addresses my favorite Tito, who loves to cook: “I see you have fine knives here. Quite a kitchen you’ve got, sir, quite a kitchen. And those scissors – so strong! If I were you, I’d use them to cut off that ponytail. Doesn’t it bother you, the way it swings around while you move from pot to pot, seasoning, stirring, and tasting? A ponytail is not like a fish tail, sir. A man or a woman is perfectly fine without one but a fish without a tail is a dead fish and I don’t say that just because I wound up here with a dead fish – my dead fish, that is to say. Sniff. “Imagine a fish swimming in the sea without its tail. It wouldn’t even be swimming. It would be flapping about gracelessly, towards a slow and painful death. Can’t imagine what that’s like? Well I can tell you sir, it’s a far uglier sight than a splintered sailboat in rough waters. And to fish, a sailboat is an ugly thing to begin with, but not as ugly as boats with engines. Not only are boats with engines monstrous...

"9.8.2031/12:30 pm/66℉ read the signboard at Chunzom. Beep!!! The alarm on the gate rang as the bus passed by the laser lights." So begins the short story Yellow Behind the Numbers, which is quite possibly the first ever piece of Bhutanese science fiction by Sippy Das. The story appears in the book November Light, an anthology of creative writing "produced by the 2010 cohort of students on the course English 202 module ('Creative Writing: Fiction and Non-Fiction') at the Royal Thimph College , Bhutan."   What is remarkable about this collection is that "English 202" is the first, and so far the only, university-level creative writing course in Bhutan. And so to read November Light is to look into the psyche of young Bhutanese minds that are discovering “the joys of creative expression – reading, writing, being read – as a way of making meaning,” as put by their young professor, Dr. Nitasha Kaul , a Kashmiri woman who has done e...

Last week Mt Cloud Bookshop was honored with a visit from Mrs. Cecile Afable, doyenne of local media and one of the notorious yet well-loved Three Witches of Baguio. She recounted how, in the mid-sixties she opened the Ato Bookshop and Art Gallery on the ground floor of Insular Life Building, on Session Road. The Ato had a wide collection of Filipiniana. There was a weaving loom to one side and two weavers would come in and do their work in the shop. The Ato also carried prison art. She wrote in the Mt Cloud guestbook: "The books were confiscated by the soldiers of Marcos so we closed..." Mabuhay kayo, Auntie Cecile! Tomorrow, Oct. 13, at 6PM, Mt Cloud Bookshop is proud to be hosting the book launching of MONDO MARCOS: Writings on Martial Law and Marcos Babies/Mga Panulat sa Batas Militar at ng Marcos Babies, edited by Frank Cimatu and Roland Tolentino. With the presence of Frank Cimatu and a number of the authors who contributed poetry and prose to the English and Fil...

  A collection of poetry and fiction from the Cordillera's premier city. Please join us for the book launching on March 7, 2010, at 4PM in National Bookstore, SM City, Baguio. There will be readings, music, merienda, and laughter. The anthology, a project of the Baguio Writers Group, is edited by Francis C. Macansantos and Luchie B. Maranan with an introduction by Cirilo F. Bautista. It is published by Anvil Publishing Inc. The contributing writers are: Tita Lacambra Ayala, Janice Bagawi, Desiree Caluza, Jennifer Patricia A. Carino, Frank Cimatu, Jhoanna Lyn Cruz, Merci Javier Dulawan, Ralph Semino Galan, Rommel de Guzman, Luisa A. Igloria, Edgar B. Maranan, Babeth Lolarga, Junley Lazaga, Monica Macansantos, Priscilla Supnet Macansantos, Baboo Mondonedo, Chinee Palatino, Corazon Patricio, Padmapani L. Perez, Solana Perez, Rachel Pitlongay, Scott Magkachi Saboy and Roger "Rishab" Tibon. The book is P375 and will be sold at 10% less during the launch.

Please join us for the launching of a volume of essays written by authors who have lived and loved in Baguio. Edited by Grace Celeste T. Subido. The Baguio We Know September 2, 2009 at 6PM National Bookstore, SM Baguio "Today, with the emergence of new and concededly more titillating, tourist destinations, many will admit that Baguio has "fallen from grace" from its once lofty position as "Summer Capital of the Philippines." However, perhaps more than anything, this collection of works reveals the Baguio that is so much more than the handmaiden to tourism that some falsely believe is the answer to this city's ultimate salvation. "This collection of works provides a glimpse into that view from within of a place forged in consciousness that transcends boundaries of time and space." -- FROM THE INTRODUCTION The Contributors Cecile Afable Pia Arboleda Arnold Molina Azurin Tita Lacambra-Ayala Nonnette C. Bennett Karl...

I absolutely love this video of Harlan Ellison ranting about monetary compensation for writers' work!!! I have Cor to thank for finding and sharing this gem! This brings me back to my own thoughts (not half as rabid, but ok, kinda rabid) and dilemmas about writing for free . I have more to say about this. Real soon!

All year round Baguio City and her environs positively vibrate with the energies of the art world. It can be said that there is no shortage of creativity in our mountains. All this artistic productivity ought to be documented, not only for posterity, but also in order to nurture and enhance the engagement of local communities with art. Thus the Baguio Writers Group (BWG) and the Bencab Art Foundation are pleased to offer a writing workshop on art theory and criticism. Our esteemed resource persons are Lito Zulueta, editor of the Arts and Culture sub-section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, known art and film critic, and UST faculty member; and Yason Banal, internationally-acclaimed young artist, columnist for the Philippine Star, and faculty member of the U.P. Film Institute. The workshop will be held at the Bencab Museum on May 23 and 24, from 9AM - 5PM. The workshop will be comprised of a series of lectures and writing exercises. Registration fee is a bargain at P1200, inclusive of:...

The invites you to the 1st WORD FOR WORD! book sale Pre-loved books at bargain prices! Donated from the shelves of avid readers and book connoisseurs, the collection is bound to please the word-hungry! Great finds await you! March 22, 2009 10 A.M. onwards at the dap-ay of Proceeds from WORD FOR WORD will go towards the BWG’s literary workshops! Our aim: to enable writers and teachers in the Cordilleras to teach, critique, and encourage young talents. Our dream: literary workshops held by new writers and teachers in their own languages and hometowns and their work published in the vernacular. We will continue to accept book donations as we plan to make WORD FOR WORD a regular event on the Baguio calendar. See you! is a non-stock, non-profit organization. We exist to celebrate Cordilleran literature and to nurture the souls of Cordilleran writers. For inquiries, email baguiowriters@gmail.com or text/call 0908 361 2844