Tuesday, March 23, 2010

ClickTheCity Covers Neil Gaiman's Manila Visit

During the awarding ceremonies of The 3rd Philippine Graphic/Fiction Awards, I had the good fortune of sitting beside ClickTheCity's charming and friendly writer, Ali Caronongan. Her article is now up: Manila Welcomes Neil Gaiman With Open Arms. Head on over to read about her experiences covering Neil's stay in Manila, and how she was able to meet him during the book signing events (she was one of the lucky winners during the raffle for a chance to have books signed with the author). An excerpt:

In fulfilling everyone’s secret dream of being a Rockstar groupie, having the pleasure to be within the circles of Neil Gaiman, Literature’s critically-acclaimed Rockstar, seemed more than just a fulfilled ambition: It was Surreality at its best.

Gaiman, well-known for the novels American Gods, Neverwhere, Anansi Boys and the brains behind the Sandman series of graphic novels, recently visited Manila to co-host the awarding ceremonies of the 3rd Philippine Graphic/Fiction Awards - Revelations: Stories of Light and Darkness. Together with Fully Booked, the two-day affair consisted of the awarding ceremonies held at the Rockwell Tent last Wednesday evening, and a Book signing held at the Powerplant Mall on Thurday afternoon.

Better than the OSCARS: A Biased Opinion

Having missed his first two visits to the Philippines, I – like any other Gaiman fan - would have marked those as “red letter-days” to witness one of my favorite authors in the flesh. Originally not expecting any close encounter with Mr. Gaiman (at first), the thoughts of merely sharing the Rockwell Tent and breathing the same air as he did were enough to keep any fan motivated to hope for an extraordinary Wednesday night.

I arrived with my best friends who attended Gaiman’s last visit three years ago at Bonifacio High Street. The turn-out for the Awards Night this time was surprising. The crowd – consisting of avid fans that seemed eager to forget it was a school night or a work day – was given the chance to rub elbows with the finalists, past winners, and different personalities from the realms of entertainment and literature.

2 Comments:

Blogger Wilfred said...

Ali was my blockmate in college. Very sweet and kind. Nice to hear she's doin what she wants.

3:38 PM  
Blogger pgenrestories said...

@Wilfred: I enjoyed meeting Ali, and she was very excited to meet Neil Gaiman. She seems genuinely friendly and nice. And yes, I'm glad she's a reader and a writer. :)

7:06 AM  

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