Whether you’re searching for captivating fictional stories set in the Philippines or intriguing essays about the country’s culture, here are five books by Filipino writers to add to your reading list.
It goes without saying that the Philippines is rife with creative talent, including writers who weave unforgettable tales, both real and imagined. From past oral traditions to contemporary publishing, storytelling is in our blood. This August, Lifestyle Asia celebrates all things proudly Filipino with its “Love Local” theme, and what better way to spotlight the country’s talents than through the words of great writers?
Here are five books that cover a range of genres and showcase the vibrancy of our literary landscape:
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Seventeen Prayers to the Many-Eyed Mother by Eliza Victoria
Fans of all things creepy or chilling will delight in Eliza Victoria’s collection of stories, Seventeen Prayers to the Many-Eyed Mother.
Below is the official synopsis of the book for those interested in traversing through the author’s strange situations, most which are set in the Philippines:
In Seventeen Prayers to the Many-Eyed Mother, characters seek solace—wittingly or unwittingly—in forces beyond human comprehension. A young woman agrees to make a blood sacrifice in exchange for an American visa. Strangers find themselves stuck in a fatal time loop in a convenience store. A plane crash survivor on a deserted island believes a deity’s name has been carved into the rocks. A broke tourist meets a being untouched by time and space. Diwata [Philippine nature spirits], in hopes of assimilation into human society, agree to have their wings surgically removed. And within the darkness of an old mansion, a figure in white appears by the doorway…
Though Victoria’s tales contain supernatural elements, their quiet horrors lie in the everyday issues present within them. Compelling dialogue and character interactions add a level of depth to the stories, making their more haunting aspects all the more potent.
In The Country by Mia Alvar
Next is another collection of short stories from Filipino-American writer Mia Alvar: In The Country earned the writer the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction in 2016, and has garnered critical-acclaim both internationally and domestically.
Below is a section of the book’s official synopsis:
A pharmacist living in New York smuggles drugs to his ailing father in Manila, only to discover alarming truths about his family and his past. In Bahrain, a Filipina teacher drawn to a special pupil finds, to her surprise, that she is questioning her own marriage. A college student leans on her brother, a laborer in Saudi Arabia, to support her writing ambitions, without realizing that his is the life truly made for fiction. And in the title story, a journalist and a nurse face an unspeakable trauma amidst the political turmoil of the Philippines in the 1970s and ’80s.
With stunning prose and nine stories centered on the Filipino diaspora across the globe, In The Country paints a vivid picture of Philippine culture through the lens of those who leave the homeland. Filled with hopes and dreams, both fulfilled and unfulfilled, from immigrants across all walks of life, Alvar’s stories are deeply empathetic portraits that highlight the different facets of human connection.
House of Memory by Resil B. Mojares
Moving onto non-fiction territory, those with an interest in exploring a wide range of interesting topics like memory, Philippine history and identity, as well as our connection to the mundane aspects of life like food, may enjoy House of Memory. The essay collection comes one of the greatest Filipino writers the country has produced, National Artist for Literature and Palanca Awardee Resil B. Mojares.
Below is an official synopsis of the book:
“What does a house speak? It speaks many things: of certain enduring affections, of absence, neglect, infidelities of distance, distraction, forgetting.”
In this collection of essays, National Artist for Literature Resil Mojares makes his way into the past by framing his memories and musings as parts of a house. Each essay elicits that familiar nostalgia one gets while visiting an old home and wistfully rummaging through long-forgotten objects that bring back the fond memories of childhood.
Mojares’s writings create a sense of wonder about the most ordinary objects and occurrences, demonstrating a richness of emotion and a deep mindfulness many only hope to achieve.
Most striking about the collection is its accessibility. Though Mojares explores topics that would often warrant lengthy discussions with complicated jargon, his language is clear and accessible, yet still thoughtful. There is a lot to explore, and one can go from essay to essay depending on what topic they feel most drawn to. The book’s pieces examine everything from the concept of death and its surrounding rituals (“Catching Souls”), to the drinking culture of Visayans (“How To Drink In Cebuano”).
Some Days You Can’t Save Them All by Dr. Ronnie E. Baticulon
The inner lives of doctors can be inscrutable and enigmatic for those not in the profession. With such busy schedules and people’s well-being at stake, it is not every day where they have the time or energy to come forward with their stories, at least as a full book. We are fortunate to have Some Days You Can’t Save Them All, a touching collection of essays from Dr. Ronnie E. Baticulon: a neurosurgeon and teacher who also happens to be a great writer.
Below is a section of the official synopsis of the book:
Some Days You Can’t Save Them All is the first book of Dr. Ronnie E. Baticulon, known online to his readers as Ronibats. It collects his essays and stories from medical school at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine and neurosurgery training at the Philippine General Hospital.
Being a doctor is never easy with people’s lives at stake. Perhaps the best piece to represent this and the book in its entirety is its titular essay, which won second prize for English essay at the 2018 Carlos Palanca awards. Baticulon’s descriptions of life at a public hospital are vivid and detailed, rife with the complications one would expect both within his field of work and in specific circumstances (namely working with inefficient processes or a lack of advanced technology).
In the span of some 20 pages or so, the doctor recounts situations where he could not, indeed, save them all—something particularly difficult when he dealt with low-income families. The collection provides plenty of food for thought, opening up meaningful discussions on everything from the country’s healthcare situation to how people deal with grief when death comes too soon.
Banner photos from the Avenida website, Amazon website, Yuchengco Museum website, and UP Press Store website.
