A recent release that’s been getting buzz online recently is an anthology of coming-of-age stories that convey the wonder, angst, and exhilaration of childhood and its memories.
Growing Up Filipino 3 (296 pgs, pb, 2022), collected and edited by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, are “new stories from young adults.” Among the writers are well-known names such as Oscar Peñaranda, Danton Remoto, Ian Rosales Casocot, and Nikki Alfar.
The stories showcase a wide variety of children’s and young adults’ experiences coping with the nuances of cultures around the world while also coming to terms with what it means to be Filipino.
In Tall Woman From Leyte, novelist Gina Apostol tells of a kindergarten-aged child who unwittingly stumbles into the presence of a lady who was “very, very tall, with two feet of hair. Really.”
Accompanied by “uniformed men,” the lady was “beautiful. She sparkled in the sunlight. Gold was on her arms, jewels on her fingers. Diamonds, green stones, a ruby.” Diamonds also glitter on this mysterious creature’s shoes, but the shine extends to her skin, which is unflattering: her ankles are “silvery, like fish scales.”
It is Imelda Marcos, and the toddler spends an hour or so with her, Marcos Sr., and their guests, in an encounter that reflects the reality of how they perceived themselves (as larger-than-life parents of the country) and other people (as the recipients of their benevolent largesse).
In The Fancy Dancer, John Jack G. Wigley recounts how as a boy growing up in Angeles City “a few meters away from the Clark Air Force Base,” he led a conga line of U.S. servicemen and Filipina sex workers dancing through the streets. The memory is raw and honest, and Wigley shares it with us unflinchingly.
Brainard’s own The Dead Boy is a peek into the life of the elite of Ubec City, the author’s alternate Cebu. Bill Lowry is murdered, perhaps shot by a PC who spied on Bill and his girlfriend Bebop necking. The incident compels the narrator, a teenage girl, to navigate her understanding of the meaning of love, death, and the tenacity of life.
The collection is an interesting one, with many gems of good writing that scintillate. I look forward to some of the stories being taught in literature classes in SHS and college.
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Something flying under the radar that deserves more attention is Life in a Flash: Stories (244 pgs., pb, 2022), an anthology of 97 flash fiction pieces by 16 writers and edited by Rhona Lopa-Macasaet.
In her Preface, Macasaet explains that the stories were written by authors from diverse backgrounds bound by their love of literature and writing. They were mentored by University of the Philippines professor emeritus Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo, who taught them creative writing.
The themes of these “sudden” stories are as varied as their authors, ranging from childhood to sex to travel. Rubber Slippers, writes Pantoja Hidalgo in her Introduction, is about a college girl on her “immersion day” who realizes “what poverty means for the children in the community they serve.”
Youth does not mean children are immune from violence; “Bahay-Bahayan” and “Teks” deal with fights between parents and how the child protagonists perceive this disturbance and its effect on their lives.
Hidalgo calls this a “rich collection” full of variety and quality, testaments to the imagination and creativity of the authors, among them Dr. Lourdes Montinola, chair emeritus of Far Eastern University; entrepreneur and poet Quintin Jose Pastrana, and writer/editor Myrza Sison.
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In Easy Listening, veteran journalist Nestor Cuartero presents a collection of essays that he modestly calls “an old man’s rumblings” [sic] and “notes and notations” on an eclectic range of subjects.
In his writing, Cuartero comes across as unpretentious and imbued with a wry sense of humor. His self-image is simple and easy-going: seated with “a cup of steaming hot Baraco coffee in the morning, while listening to soft, cool music wafting from an old, old transistor radio.” This reminds me so much of my own father, who sat nights at the table, book in one hand, as the strains of Vivaldi or Brahms stirred the air over DZFE radio.
Many of the pieces are anecdotes of the author’s youth, of a Philippines long past, when courtship took place discreetly on the porch, in full view of everyone; when fruits such as rimas and mabolo, that most urban youngsters have never heard of, were plentiful; when peeing on bougainvillea guaranteed lush blossoms.
The pieces in this book are indeed “easy listening” but never lightweight., Cuartero manages to find the joy and lightness in the mundane and commonplace, and shares with us the wisdom of being tranquil and appreciative of the little things amid the rush and roar of daily life.
All these books were published by the University of Santo Tomas Publishing House and are available at the UST Bookshop at the campus in España, Manila, and online at their Shopee storefront.
Dr. Ortuoste is a board member of PEN Philippines, a member of the Manila Critics Circle, and a judge of the National Book Awards. You may reach the author on Facebook and Twitter: @DrJennyO