Some girls call their mother their best friend. Marisol Martin? She could never relate. She and her mom were forever locked in an argument with no beginning and no end. Clothes, church, boys, no matter the topic, Marisol always felt like there was an unbridgeable gap between them that they were perpetually shouting across, one […]
By Loida Nicolas Lewis Last May, in Vancouver Canada, I was hosted by Filipino Canadians Treenee Lopez, and Lenore and Jose Lim, for my book tour of “Why Should Guys Have All The Fun?” Treenee asked me to attend an organization of Filipinos in Halifax Nova Scotia Canada to be held on June 1st. She is a […]
By Robbin Charles Dagle Glenda Oris, who teaches in the Kagawaran ng Filipino (Department of Filipino), is known for her work in the area of children’s literature, specifically picture books and historical fiction for young adults. Oris has won acclaim for her books from the Philippines’ top literature prizes such as the Palanca Awards […]
Ramon Gil’s latest middle grade graphic novel features a diverse cast of characters in terms of ethnicity, gender identity, and neurodiversity. Since 2014, Ramon Gil’s comic stories have featured people of color — often Asian — as lead characters. As an immigrant himself, he has a soft spot for the newcomer or the outsider. “I’ve […]
By Allen Gaborro To even begin trying to understand Gina Apostol’s perplexing, historical, and political spectrum of a novel about the Philippines during its pre-turn of the century revolutionary era, “The Revolution According to Raymundo Mata,” a reader has to get out from under the tried and true empirical norms of the classical literary universe […]
By Allen Gaborro Subjected to social and political pressure in the Philippines, Filipino American journalist, writer, and co-founder of the candidly disquisitive Rappler digital news website, Maria Ressa has exhibited nothing less than fearlessness and resoluteness in the face of it all. In the intro of Ressa’s memoir “How to Stand Up to a Dictator: […]
By Tricia J. Capistrano “If you’re a bottom, you’re gonna have to learn to douche correctly,” writes Filipino American influencer Bretman Rock in his recently released book, “You’re That Bitch and Other Cute Lessons About Being Unapologetically Yourself.’ For middle-aged Filipino Americans like me who are turned off by graphic sex and cursing, I ask […]
By Allen Gaborro In 1967 a US Supreme Court ruling led to the legalization of interracial marriages. One such interracial marriage would be the union two years later of American lawyer Reginald F. Lewis and Sorsogon-born Loida Mañalac Nicolas. It would be the beginning of a beautiful and productive relationship that ended with the untimely […]
By Tricia J. Capistrano “Not valid for travel to China, the Soviet Union and other communist countries” was stamped on Jaime FlorCruz’s passport. But in July of 1971, FlorCruz, then only 20, and 14 other youth leaders from the Philippines flew to Hong Kong and then to China. The students, together with scholars from other […]