Text by Hazel Aspera
Photos by Dennis Flores
About 200 participants came to celebrate both International Pride Month and the Tagbo: Readers, Writers, and Publications Festival, during the Cagayan de Oro leg of the book launch of the "Libulan Binisaya Anthology of Queer Literature" at the XU Little Theater. The first of its kind in the southern Philippines, the anthology celebrates queer perspectives through poems, short stories, flash fiction, novel excerpts, creative nonfiction, and one-act plays captured eloquently in the Binisaya language. The anthology was also launched earlier this year at Ateneo de Davao University and Cebu Normal University.
This choice of language for this anthology was deliberate. According to co-editor Alton Melvar Dapanas: “There was no question on the choice of language and genres. Local literature (sometimes branded as ‘regional’ by those blinded by center-periphery orientations in what is supposed to be plural ‘national’ literatures) is part of our critical and creative interests.”
As to the need for a platform for queer literature, he said: “We need to discover a literary experience that captures the exigencies of queer Filipino life, its skin and smoke, thickness and fragility. We need a queer literature that is not only gay but inclusive towards others in the gender spectrum.”
BOOKS FOR SALE. The Libulan Queer Anthology was one among the many locally published books available during the TAGBO: Readers, Writers, and Publishers Festival spearheaded by XU Press.
The launch featured panel discussion, author craft talks, and a writer meet-and-greet from contributors, De La Salle University MFA Creative Writing student and bisexual fictionist Kei Valmoria Bughaw of Surigao City and National Book Award finalist and gay memoirist Arnie Q Mejia of Iligan City, as well as co-editors poet and essayist Alton Melvar Dapanas (NAGMAC senior fellow for poetry and essay, director for operations, and editor for essay and creative non-fiction of the Bulawan Literary Journal of Northern Mindanao) and fictionist-playwright R Joseph Dazo. Through these talks, not only did the contributors and publishers promote the Libulan Anthology, they were also able to encourage young readers to explore works in Binisaya and other local languages, while also raising awareness on LGBTQIA+ issues in literature and publishing.
Libulan will publish its second volume in 2020 and will include more genders, more languages (from the southern Philippines), and more genres.
THOUGHTS ON LOVE AND FAMILY. Arnie Q Mejia shares his experience of vulnerability in sharing with the world in his memoir that recounts a love that ends in tragedy. In his own words, “My writing life was born the day my first lover died.”
The book launch of the Libulan Binisaya Anthology of Queer Literature served as a culmination of the three-day Tagbo: Readers, Writers, and Publishers Festival. The launch was organized by the Nagkahiusang Magsusulat sa Cagayan de Oro (NAGMAC) in partnership with the Libulan Queer Collective, Xavier University Press, the Xavier Center for Culture and the Arts (XCCA), XU Department of English Language and Literature (DELL) and Xavier English Language and Literature Organization (XELLO), and literary journal Payag Habagatan: New Writings from the South.
Earlier in the TAGBO Festival, NAGMAC director for publications and novelist EJ Villena (NAGMAC senior fellow for fiction, director for publications, and general editor of the Bulawan Literary Journal of Northern Mindanao) also gave a talk on indie publishing. Poet Ton Daposala (NAGMAC senior fellow for poetry, director for creative development, and editor for poetry of the Bulawan Literary Journal of Northern Mindanao) also launched his first book, the poetry collection “Basâ-basa” during the festival.
Copies of the Libulan Binisaya Anthology of Queer Literature are currently available at the XU Press and in other sites.∎
AFTER THE TALKS. The speakers for the day, R Joseph Dazo, Alton Melvar Dapanas, Arnie Q Mejia and Kei Valmoria Bughaw, with faculty and students from Capitol University (CU). CU was one among the many schools that were represented in the audience.