I prioritize Filipina/x poets for manuscript consultation because too many have told me they never had Pinay creative writing teachers or professors, and very few, if any Filipina/x colleagues to read and provide feedback on their works in progress. This can be unhelpful and unproductive/counterproductive, especially when these works attempt to centralize the complexities of …
I wanted to start by sharing this lovely Instagram post from Maganda Bookshelf. Just look at this abundance. I love seeing what today’s Filipina/o/x readers of Filipina/o/x authored books are interested in, excited about – basically, what are they Stans for (or what do they Stan). Years ago, being a Filipina American writer, and then …
Read more “Decades of Filipina/o/x Authordom Has Brought Me Here”
Dear Brown Girl, It’s a new year, and I arrive again at questions of writing. This morning, it occurred to me that I have expended a lot of energy trying to explain the “how” piece, elaborating on craft and construction. I used to think this was what students and readers wanted to hear — how …
Read more “Dear Brown Girl: If you want to know what and why I am writing in 2022”
This is an ongoing outline/list of ideas, reading materials, et al, as I am thinking about my next next book project. On social media, I noted: in so many of the Filipino American community events I participate in as a poet, the same question in different iterations always arises: “Why poetry?” “Why do you write …
With the permission of author and publisher Christina Newhard, who sent me these questions, I am posting my responses here: Name: Barbara Jane Reyes Where you live: Oakland, CA Descriptor: Author and Educator What are your works of / about Philippine mythology (books/ podcast/ art /classes, organizations)? Please list them: Poeta en San Francisco (Tinfish …
Questions while reading Pinay authored literature What do we see, and what do we not see in the literature? What is women’s work? Who gets to write books? Who has access to literacy? Who has access to formal education? To secondary education? To college education? Who has access to (constitutional and social) freedom of speech? …