Bicolana writer Mia Tijam’s fiction ‘This and That Was’ is off the press

Set in the fairy tale reality of the Philippines, Mia Tijam’s short stories span an archipelago of identities, telling tales of the land, the culture, the rustic and the urban, the religious and the heretical; the fractures, the spaces, and the cities without dragons.

With evocative, powerful prose, lush and mountainous in parts, a civilized veneer in others, This and That Was is born from instances when the forces within could no longer be restrained. Each story is complimented by an illustrated piece by Filipino artist Rustom Pujado. 

According to her publisher’s website, Tijam was born and spent her early childhood in Iriga City and grew up in Naga City in the Bicol Region of the Philippines. Mia served as co-editor of the pioneering virtual anthology Philippine Speculative Fiction Sampler; editor for the inceptive Special Section for PWDs and PADs of the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Literary Journal Ani 41 Lakbay; co-editor of the CCP’s tribute to departed cultural workers in the pandemic, “Hanggang sa Muli: Pagpupugay at Pasasalamat sa mga Pumanaw”; and editor for Philippine Genre Stories. 

Her debut short fiction collection, Flowers for Thursday, was a finalist for the National Book Awards in the Philippines; its bilingual edition is the first English-Rinconada short fiction book in Philippine literature.

Tijam studied European languages, philosophy, literary theory, creative writing, and comparative literature at the University of the Philippines, Diliman in Metro Manila. She was one of the first fellows for CNF (creative nonfiction) in 2007 in the oldest creative writing program in Asia, the Silliman University National Writers Workshop; and a fellow in CNF in the 2024 Women’s Annual Writing Workshop in the Philippines. She has published poetry, nonfiction, and short fiction, and her work has received awards and critical recognition. 

Mia served as co-editor of the pioneering virtual anthology Philippine Speculative Fiction Sampler; editor for the inceptive Special Section for PWDs and PADs of the (CCP) Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Literary Journal ANI 41: LAKBAY; co-editor of the CCP’s tribute to departed cultural workers in the pandemic, “Hanggang sa Muli: Pagpupugay at Pasasalamat sa mga Pumanaw”; editor for Philippine Genre Stories; judge for Istoryang Rinconada: Literary and Visual Art Competition; judge for Saranggola Awards; and category judge for Bikol translation in the National Book Awards in the Philippines.

Her debut short fiction, Flowers for Thursday published by Ateneo de Naga University Press, was a finalist in the 40th National Book Awards in the Philippines; its bilingual second edition published in 2024 is the first English-Rinconada short fiction book in Philippine literature. She has been acknowledged as one of the writers and editors who have advanced Philippine Speculative Fiction.