I Am The Heart That You Call Home
Posted 1:48 PM by AD in Labels: literary criticism, questionnaire, something to do in between typing up a racket
So I'm about to get my hands on a copy of that Routledge book I geeked out on a few weeks ago, and finally I'll get to see which Pinoy fictionists the two editors saw fit to mention in the book, which got me to wondering: if I were asked to name, say, five contemporary Pinoy fictionists off the top of my head whom I think deserve mentioning - and why - who exactly would I pick?
I somewhat regrettably settled on three names, and it's really a regrettable thing seeing as I can only really come up with three names for the list. I rationalised the selection via various criteria, some of those being 1) one has to have released at least one book in the last ten years or so, and 2) ought to still be writing today.
And so:
Sarge Lacuesta
Dean Alfar
Vlad Gonzales
And so the comments section is now open: who'd you pick as the best contemporary Pinoy fictionists, and why?
I somewhat regrettably settled on three names, and it's really a regrettable thing seeing as I can only really come up with three names for the list. I rationalised the selection via various criteria, some of those being 1) one has to have released at least one book in the last ten years or so, and 2) ought to still be writing today.
And so:
Sarge Lacuesta
Primarily for his debut collection Life Before X, a solid example of postBrilliantes/postPulotan artisanship. Unapologetic and precise and very wholly original. When one mentions in conversation even the barest elements of one story (autopsy, tattoo, sex), you get nods of remembering and confirmation all around ("Tattoo," page 25). His other books, one of which I utterly despise, fail to compare. His most recent collection, Flames (about half of which I've already read published in various places), reads as if striving towards the perfection of Life Before X, but only reading as if b-side versions of the earlier collection. Lacuesta's Life Before X is indispensable contemporary Pinoy reading.
Dean Alfar
Primarily for championing Pinoy Speculative Fiction. I've dealt hours and hours of braintime on problematising the label - and it's still very problematic to me - but we're just really fooling ourselves if we don't recognise that the current Pinoy fiction production wouldn't be this plentiful and promising and exciting without Alfar and the various PSF anthos he's been churning out almost annually, always self-published, and always - at the very least - interesting. If there'll be one fiction writer that will be remembered from the Naughty Naughts, I really honestly say that it will most probably be Alfar. If that's a good thing or a bad thing wholly depends on your politics.
Vlad Gonzales
I wrote a review on his debut book here - my second post ever - and I invoke all the things I said there as my rationale. I really find it an insult to Gonzales's writing that his present day mileage is from his nonfiction books, which are merely the filtered remains of what his writing is truly capable of. I hope a mainstream publisher picks up on that fact and decides to republish his first book. Maybe our generation's Bataille.
And so the comments section is now open: who'd you pick as the best contemporary Pinoy fictionists, and why?
4 comment(s) to... “I Am The Heart That You Call Home”
4 comments:
kulang pa ng 2.
at parang wala kang spin sa writing ni dean alfar? are you saying here na hindi ka bilib sa mga kuwento niya? LOL
Alfar? That's a surprise. Granted who did say list down Filipino fictionists, not the top Filipino fictionists. That said, why cite Alfar's work as publisher instead of fictionist?
As for my own list, I'm afraid I'm rather it's rather limited to the likes of Dalisay and Ong, who are old hats at the fiction game. I like Dalisay for the clean and stately prose work, while Ong for his picaresque sensibilities.
But here is a third name: Rosario Cruz Lucero, whose "Feast and Famine" still ranks as my favorite fiction books by a Filipino author. If I were to teach a fiction course, her book would be required reading. I like Lucero for robustness of her prose, scope of her storytelling, and the cleverness and irreverence with which she uses folk tales and pop culture references.
Great, the comments finally work. :)
Am curious as well about Dean's inclusion in your list of the only 3 Pinoy fictionists worth mentioning based on his 'championing Pinoy Speculative Fiction' as opposed to his actual writing.
And notlowercase, am a fan of Rosario Cruz-Lucero as well. :)
http://songsinthecity.blogspot.com/2009/07/words-and-shadows-this-years.html
in the rush to type this post up and have it blogged in the middle of two rackets i'm afraid i actually forgot to write about my opinion of dean alfar's work! ngayon ko lang nabalikan itong post, kaya ngayon ko lang maitatype ang sagot ko sa tanong niyo - and pretty pointed questions pa, ha!
while i wholeheartedly agree with the routledge book's assessment of alfar's writing, specifically SALAMANCA (in a nutshell, derivative of latin american magical realism sans the integral inherent politics of the genre [more or less what i mentioned in some of my posts somewhen in the past]), something has to be said about the fact that alfar's use of the english language is rather more lively than most fiction writers writing nowadays. there is never a dull moment in his paragraphs - it actually has texture, albeit the style of words-weaving is largely borrowed from somewhere else, he weaves it with far more competence and expertise than much of his peers.
although i must admit that i am basing my acknowledging him more on his influence rather than writing skillz, as it really does bear mentioning and thinking about. he's like the velvet underground's first record (or maybe the eraserheads is more accurate?): we can make arguments against his competence, but those have to contend with the fact that pretty much everyone who has read his stuff has at the very least tried writing one short story, or novel, or whatever, even if only as efforts to debunk his claims, and i think that's a pretty significant contribution to contemporary pinoy fiction as a whole, regardless of school or language or politic.
sarge lacuesta is my pick that tends more towards the basic writing skillz side, same with vlad gonzales, only vlad's doing/did it in filipino. i fear i can't think of anyone in filipino-language fiction who's as influential as alfar is in english-language fiction, outside of jun cruz reyes, but he's of an older generation, kaya di ko siya binanggit. can we think of someone na contemporary pinoy-lingo fiction na influential ang output or presence?
and i agree with the dalisay, ong, and lucero nominations!
and luis: yeah, i finally overhauled the blog! nagising lang ako isang umaga at naisip baguhin ang lahat-lahat sa design, and thought about doing something na mukhang tumblr, kasi angganda lang at organised at neat ng design nila. i think it's far friendlier sa mata and thus more reader-friendly than the first design, not to mention puwede nang magcomment.
and about sasha martinez (in luis's link): definitely one of the better young(er) fiction writers writing in english right now. mahusay at precise ang lengguwahe, at marunong magpatakbo ng kuwento. that said, and this is coming from someone who has read four of her stories in the past year or so, she needs to outwrite herself soon. maybe a novel? i know she can do it!
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