When Writers Have Dinner Together

Awardees, Judges, and The Philippines Free Press Higher-Ups

Free Press Literary Editor, Angelo "Sarge" Lacuesta

Karina Bolasco of Anvil Publishing, Luis Katigbak, Yvette Tan

Starting with the swarthy and mustachioed tall one standing in the middle, moving clockwise: Dean Francis Alfar, Andrew Drilon, Kate Aton-Osias, Alexander Osias, Vincent Michael Simbulan, Nikki Alfar, Ichi Batacan, Coke Batacan, and myself.

(Pardon the less-than-perfect photos. I only know "point-and-click").

I was at the Captain's Bar, Mandarin Oriental in Makati last night to attend the 2008 Philippines Free Press Literary Awards, which coincided with the said publication's centennial (thanks very much to literary editor Sarge Lacuesta for inviting me). Bigwigs everywhere, not just from the literati and publishing (Sir Krip Yuson, Sir Gemino Abad, Ms. Gwenn Galvez and Ms. Karina Bolasco of Anvil Publishing, to name some), but from politics, business, and society too.

Congratulations to all the winners for poetry, essay, and short story, but most especially to the first place winner in the short story category, F.H. Batacan, whose piece, "Keeping Time" impressed all the judges (Katrina Tuvera, Dean Francis Alfar, Vicente Groyon). I'm really glad she agreed to be the guest-editor for the coming special PGS crime issue. Congratulations again, Ichi!

I also met up with another lady I'm equally happy to be working with, this time on the special PGS Horror issue: Yvette Tan. She was there with another writer and friend, Luis Katigbak.

(This post is beginning to read like one of those newspaper high-society columns. Must shift gears...right now.)

Being the publication's centennial, and this being my first time to attend any kind of literary award ceremony, Nikki Alfar explained to me that the event was bigger than usual. I arrived about half-an-hour early and even caught a band rehearsing. A band! Security was pretty tight too, what with all the politicians scheduled to arrive. I'm glad I found parking right away, and that I made it in without being frisked. The announcement of the winners was first on the agenda, followed by the retrospective on the history of the Free Press, and then, speeches.

A number of us got hungry (in my case, ravenous), and couldn't wait for the buffet to open. So once the winners were announced, nine of us (see fourth photo above) sought out another place to eat, and ended up at a restaurant just ten minutes away from the hotel.

And what happens when writers get together for dinner and by happenstance get serious enough to talk shop? Let's just say that great conversation over dinner isn't overrated. I learned a lot about what drives these writers whom I've known and dealt with for less than a couple of years (and for some, less than a year): the why's, the how's, the way they like to make sense of and show something about life as they see it through their words, their approach to writing, and how they communicate with those willing to put in the effort to read their pieces. This applies not just to those writers I was with last night, but all the writers I've dealt with and come to know since PGS began, including those who stayed at the hotel. It drives home to me more that our life experiences--all of us, no exceptions--are a goldmine for what stories can be told, and it's just a matter of bringing it out. As readers we sometimes don't know how lucky we are to have access to the Pinoy writers' insights through their stories. Makes for a good case to continue reading, especially the works written by our own.