Award-winning poet Rodrigo Dela Peña, Jr. recently released Tangere, a collection a poems corresponding to each chapter in Noli Me Tangere.
Published by the University of the Philippines Press, Tangere, in essence, is a poetic reinvention of Jose Rizal’s seminal novel.
Part experiment, part palimpsest and collage, part interrogation and reclamation, the poetic sequence channels the imagined voices of Maria Clara, Pilosopo Tasyo, Sisa, and other minor characters of Rizal to create a resonant, kaleidoscopic chorus.
Caroline Hau, professor of Southeast Asian literature at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies in Kyoto University, says, “Crystalline and compelling, the suite of poems that is Tangere issues an injunction to touch and respond—above all, to remain engaged—as readers inhabit anew Rizal’s world and multitude of characters and, in so doing, experience the Philippines more than a century hence as if it were a century ago.”
Tangere is available on the UP Press website (press.up.edu.ph/store) and on Shopee and Lazada.
Sci-fi novel features Filipino immigrant
The life and adventures of Alunsinag “Al” Bayani, a 17-year-old Filipino immigrant in the US, is chronicled in the sci-fi novel 58 Minutes in Driftland written by I.S.A. Crisostomo-Lopez.
Al lives with his mother Mercedes or “Chedeng” Bayani, a nurse who works at a community hospital in Los Angeles, while his father Artemio “Miyo” Bayani is a travel writer who is mostly out of town on assignment.
He faces many adventures with his two best friends, Ming Ju-long, a Chinese immigrant from Hong Kong, and Tej Ondrej, an Indian immigrant from Bangalore. The adventure begins when Alunsinag accidentally steps into Driftland and discovers he can switch places with his alternate, more efficient self for 58 minutes. The switch opens doors to discovering one’s strengths and regaining confidence in one’s abilities.
An interesting allegory on a person’s journey to self-realization and the battle between good and evil, 58 Minutes in Driftland is also a coming-of-age story that explores current issues young people are facing today, such as belongingness and discrimination, standing up to bullies, discovering one’s potential, and falling in love.
Crisostomo-Lopez is a stay-at-home mother who has retired after 17 years of office work. She says that she composes story ideas in her mind while doing the laundry or mopping the floors. She is based in Biñan City, Laguna with her husband, four children, and two dogs.
58 Minutes in Driftland is available in both paperback and digital editions on Amazon.com.