Buhay Bahaghari LGBT book launch Aug 27 at bts writer chika

At kinarir ko na namang muli ang pagsusulat ng press release para sa nalalapit na book launch ng aming ten thousand years before ma-publish na libro hehehe. Salamat sa superqueer efforts nina former deputy director ng UP Center for Women's Studies na si Prof. Eric Manalastas at POC Pinoy LGBT channel editor naming si Eva "Bubbles" Callueng, ipapanganak na rin ang librong last year pa namin hinulma, hininga, at ngayon iiire na! Ayan siya. 

Cute naman ng cover art hehe. Talagang rainbow kung rainbow. Some of the pertinent details of the launch are here:

Want to read 36 personal essays on what it’s like to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer in the Philippines today? Then get a copy of the book entitled BUHAY BAHAGHARI: THE FILIPINO LGBT CHRONICLES published by the UP Center for Women’s Studies. The anthology will be launched on Wednesday, August 27, 2014 at 1:30-3:30pm inside the UP Center for Women’s Studies premises (Magsaysay Ave. cor. Ylanan Road near the CSWCD/ MassComm/Music college buildings inside the Diliman, QC campus).

Lima pala ang kuwentong isinabak ko dito. Personal essays ang atak, sabi ni editor Bubbles. Dapat dito ko ilalabas 'yung isang bonggang-bonggang academic article kong icho-chopchop ko sana into bite-size friendlier forms pero sabi ng lola ko eh gumawa na lang ng bago dahil masyadong academic nosebleed 'yung lesbian indie film paper ko na 'yun hihi. So kebs na dun at kume-creative nonfiction na lang ang peg ng lola mo.

Yoiks may picture nga pala sa contribs page! 

Buti na lang cute 'yung napili sa akin. Charut! :P

Kaya as usual, I have to tap into the well of my persona during the time I wrote this. What else is new? Life provides the ink and I am merely the recorder. Here are some behind-the-scenes chika of those pieces:

"Showbiz people like us 1: we got our backs" is about my experience as a cultural journalist a.k.a. lifestyle and entertainment journalist featuring closeted people like us and how we kinda have to protect each other in the dog-eat-dog a.k.a. judgmental-hetero-eats-marginalized-queer world of showbizlandia.

"Showbiz people like us 2: gaydar me, gaydar you" is about how clueless peeps ask queers like me to "detect" suspected queers like me, a.k.a. kapag gusto lang mang-canfeermd! ng mga chismosa sa mga kloseta sa showbiz. Yes, this happens. True story.

"The tabloidization of the tomboy: (don’t) print us o lord" is actually the first piece I wrote solely for this anthology. This chronicles my experience when I showed up for an interview as an entertainment editor in a newspaper that turned out to be in tabloid format, so all media vs. queers baggage broke loose.

Siyempre mawawala ba ang mga love chronicles ng buhay? "To fight the unbeatable fight" is my muni-muni about having relationships with women who are closeted and how I negotiate my openly out self in there. "To reach the unreachable love" is the chronicling of my foray into lesbian LDRdom or long distance relationships before, during and after. 

Support for the book in the form of blurbs

 from varied queers and queer allies 

e.g. Boy Abunda, Dr. Margie Holmes, 

Aida Santos, Danton Remoto, Neil Garcia. 

Dumo-Don Quixote lang talaga ang peg? Ewan ko ba. Alam ko single na ako nung sinulat ko ang mga ito, lalo na itong dalawang love articles chenes. Sa tagal na nito, di ko na maalala exactly kung ano 'yung contribs ko at kung ano ang porma at ikot ng headspace ko nun hehe. Naaliw lang ako when I recalled what they were, so I reread them, and the ending of that unbeatable fight piece went something like this nga pala:

Ah, it’s a cycle, this closet of ours, of theirs. Is it somebody’s fault that we’re there, and is it somebody’s fault that it exists? Of course there is some fault somewhere. That’s why we fight an unbeatable fight sometimes. But still, we go on. Closet or no closet, we travel, until we find what what we’re looking for, or until we have to be found by someone looking for us.

She’s out there. Just walk.

Wow. Indeed. And now, here we are, months after I wrote that, I bumped into someone and someone bumped into me. I'm ever so grateful to the universe that I walked that day, that I decided to show up in that seemingly random business meeting, that I decided to get out of my hibernation and socialize with a new soul. That soul turned out to be the love of my life right now, my kindred of all kindred spirits, and all my obra I dedicate to her. Yes, pati na this book's contributions. Thank you, sweetheart.

Mantakin mo nga naman, how our life narratives turn out. Wala lang, natutuwa lang ako. I guess we still can't believe we found each other, na magkalapit lang pala ang orbits namin sa isa't isa, all this time, but we were not fated to meet until the moment we did. Happy. Happy lang talaga. :) Sorry sumingit talaga ang #inlabsiBayli peg ulit ahihihi. #akona

Heniweys hemingways, kitakits sa book launch. Bonggabels din naman ang line-up ng contributors dahil for the first time, reprezent! talaga ang L, G, B, at T ditech, pati na Q because of me. So there. Here's some more info on the book: 

Contributors come from different walks of life who also belong in different industries in society. Some of them are or have been active LGBT rights advocates. Their essays tackle topics like identities and struggles; tensions, anxieties, relations; challenges, changes and the community; and of course love and lessons that come with finding it, losing it, or keeping it. Some of the contributors include longtime queer advocates Fr. Richard Mickley, Chris Jo Salvatierra, Ging Cristobal and Bruce Amoroto; corporate professionals Fire Sia, Mel Abutin and Allan Carreon; development worker Miel Feria; former and current college professors Mikee Inton, Argel Tuason and  Lorna Israel; National Youth Commission’s Percival Cendana and Ernest Lucas; and Carlos Palanca awardees Shakira Sison, Libay Linsangan Cantor and Jhoanna Lynn B. Cruz, to name a few. The essays are written in Filipino and English.

Read the rest of my press release here sa pop media blog kesh. Sayang ang dami yatang di nakahabol sa deadline. Happy sana ito kung ang ibang kabatak ay nakapaglaan ng obra. Maybe a sequel should happen na lang. 

Hehe at sorry kung mayabang pero paminsan-minsan kailangan din nating ipagmayabang na may mga award-winning among the rainbow community, na hindi porke't queer tayo ay kalunos-lunos tayo at hindi fabulous. Excuse me! Hahaha. And the Palanca is always a good marker of an award for us queer writers. Congrats nga rin pala is in order for another win for one of us. Hm not sure if na-announce na niya ang pagkapanalo niya this year ulit pero CONGRATS MAMU! 'Yun muna hehe. You know who you are. Always proud of you. :)

Eclectic lot! Life is like a rainbow indeed -- you never know which hue will rule you at times. So best to be prepared. 

Congrats sa editing efforts ni Bubbles beks at nairaos din ito. Happy! :) Buy the book! Support Philippine literature and the Pinoy LGBTQ community.

Kitakits! :)

Manila Times column for 13 Sept 2009: "Literary highs and lows"

original post here.

kahit naman hindi tayo super-friends or super-close sa mga namatay, we still feel their loss because familiar tayo sa mga ginawa nila, na ang ilan ay hinangaan pa natin. hindi ba valid reason yun para makiramay? that's called being human, i think.

yun lang kasi ang isa kong feeling sa ilang kaibigan ng isa sa namatay, na para bang "private grief" dapat ang "pagsasaluhan" nila lang, kaya parang weird for them na nakikisimpatiya ang ibang tao sa labas ng sirkulo nila at ng namatayan. tapos magagalit pa sa iyo kapag nag-comment ka about it or something. ay ewan. kuwento ko na lang sa 'yo over strong ice and isaw sa sarah's.

maybe they should take their cues from two recent big deaths in our culture -- michael jackson's and tita cory -- and take some clues/cues from there.

sana lang.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

THE SCRIBE VIBE By Libay Linsangan Cantor Literary highs and lows

It has been such a schizophrenic time these past few weeks for the local artistic community, especially when it came to news about writers. While some have been celebrating highs, people were also feeling low with the loss of some writers in our midst. One of the losses was Astrid Tobias who lost her bout with lupus a few weeks back. Just thirty years old, Astrid wrote children's literature and also worked at the Kabataan News Network. I first met her through common friends but it was at Adarna HouseÕs 2007 Barlaya Writing for Young Adults workshop where I interacted with her the longest. I was a fellow of that workshop and she was a panelist who gave very meaningful insights about the young adult novel I submitted for that workshop. Her comments were very useful and helped the revision of my manuscript a lot. I was actually planning on seeking her out for added comments (I wanted her to read the whole novel because the workshop only provided panelists with excerpts and synopses) but I guess my luck ran out. Still, I am very grateful for her help. May she rest in peace. Another young writer we lost is 29-year old film critic Alexis Tioseco. His Quezon City home was robbed and, together with his girlfriend Nika Bohinc, he was gunned down in the process. Most of the independent film cinema circle knew him as the hopeful Filipino-Canadian critic who championed Filipino cinema via his online film journal. His girlfriend was also a film journalist in her native Slovenia. No one should die that way. I hope they find the perpetrators soon. Another young writer we lost is poet Winton Lou Ynion whom I met at the UP National Writers Workshop in Davao in the late 1990s. He was one of the poetry fellows and I was part of the workshop staff that year. I offer my condolences to the families and friends of these writers; such a huge loss indeed. Even with such sad news in mind, the literary community still went on with the usual highs designated this time of the year. The Palanca Awards were handed out last September 1 and I would like to congratulate all who won. Some wins elevated a couple of writers to the Hall of Fame, particularly UP Prof. Eugene Evasco. A known children's writer, he won first place for the newest Palanca category in Filipino called Tulang Isinulat Para Sa Mga Bata. In order to be in the Hall of Fame, a writer should have won five first prize awards in any category. The Philippines Free Press Awards were also given out days before the Palanca's, and poetry and fiction writers whose works were published in the magazine the past year were awarded to a lot of first-timers. Let's hope that the rest of the year will be more peaceful for the writing community and the larger artistic community as well; no more losses, please, and enough controversies as well. Comments? Suggestions? E-mail libay.scribevibe@gmail.com. She is also at libaycantor.multiply.com.

blogthangena

alam ko na kung saan ako pupunta...

You Should Visit Argentina

Cowboys, European food, beaches, and skiing. This country is like no other! Learn to tango, hike across Patagonia, eat at fine restaurants... you'll never be bored.

What Latin American Country Should You Visit?

i actually know someone who just up and left for argentina. also a film major, a co-worker in a former office run by a COO (child of owner). last i heard, he was a waiter in argentina. forgot to ask where. perhaps buenos aires. sosyal.

the wanderlust is calling me, and it's a toss-up...eh. ewan. while we're so ensconced with the proclivities in this topography, we are oh so shackled by the economic necessities of quotidien tidings. basta.

Your Ideal Relationship is Casual Dating

Maybe you're looking for love... But mostly you're looking for fun. You could get serious with the right person. For now, though, you're enjoying playing the field.

What's Your Ideal Relationship?

okay, just checking. so we're on the right track pa, hehe.

Your Depression Level: 40%

You may be depressed. While you can be moody, your moods generally fall within the range of normal. It's up to you to decide if you're depressed... or if you're simply having a bad week.

Are You Depressed?

yeah, just checking that one, too. naninigurado lang. so we're still good.

ayuz.

wala lang. masaya lang. nakapag-submit kasi ako ulit kanina sa palanca ng short story at maikling kuwento. after ten thousand years. yehei! altho hindi nag-followthrough ang pinaplano kong one-act play. sa susunod na lang. natakot ako kay mam amel. hehehe ching! tsk. bat kasi walang novel this year? kung kelan naman natapos ang eight thousand years na novel e... wah. well, next time ulit.

touched and amused ako kanina kasi when they were receiving entries, may pa-kape na! for free! with some bowl of chips here and there. hehehe. ang galeng. and a water cooler to boost. they are prepared hehe. ganun na pala ngayon hehehe. at talagang kelangan ng kapeeeeeee sabuhay manunulat hehehe.

nagpasama ko sa friend ko pagpunta ko dun. sabi niya "mga writers nga kayo. pare-pareho kayo ng hitsura, o." sabi ko, anong hitsura? sabi niya "mukhang dugyot. at naghihirap." hahahaha. how true. nakakaaliw. tangina bat kasi di ako naging COO ng isang building sa makati.

and then, kagabi, may pinanganak akong..daglitula. wahaha pero eks. not for het consumption wahahaha. so may baon na ko sa susunod na women/lgbt poetry reading hehe. ayuz. produkto ng tatlong kabayo at apat na clovestix, ng dalawang kamay and a partridge in a pear tree.

i heart literature.

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daming respondents ng blogging survey ko ha. my karma survey is so up and high. thank goddesses. kewl. keep 'em coming! at yung mga nag-pramis, asan na??????? :P