The Write Or Die Sponsored Talk of Sir Butch Dalisay

As you can tell from the last few posts, there were a lot of things going on as January moved to February this year. On Feb. 2, 2007, I attended Read Or Die's Write Or Die sponsored talk of Sir Butch Dalisay on creative non-fiction at Powerbooks Trinoma. I was happy to see old friends from Read or Die in Tin Mandigma and Kristel Autencio.

Sir Butch read some of his essays to us, an absurdly funny one about a Fil-Am beauty pageant in Manhattan, one about how he became a "travel-whore", and a touching one about his father. The major lesson I took from his talk is that one can draw only so much from one's personal life in writing creative non-fiction. There will come a time when one's writing will have to look outward, and yet that personal connection to a reader should not be lost.

Well, after corresponding with Sir Butch mostly through email for 2007, I was glad to finally meet him in person. At last, I got his John Hancock on the Dalisay books I own. It was an honor to meet you, Sir Butch. Thank you very much for all the support you've given PGS, and for the constant encouragement you've given to younger Pinoy readers and writers.