Flying to the Philippines

I was quite anxious flying back to the Philippines for my AIDF programme. It was my first time flying alone and I'm not too keen on planes, to be honest! Also, I have always relied on my partner to ensure everything is okay for the departure and this journey really tested and honed my organisation skills!

The flight itself was extremely tiring. I had to take 2 planes: 1st was from Birmingham to Dubai (+3 hours waiting) and then from Dubai to Birmingham.

I drafted my first poem on this travel whilst I was waiting for my Dubai-Manila flight. Later on, my mentor, Marjorie Evasco looked at this poem and thought this could be my Ars Vita poem (though it still needs a lot of work!)

I reached Manila at around 4pm, local time, where I was picked up by my cousin. Even though we haven't seen each other for years, she still cares about me and wanted to ensure that I could get to my hotel safely. I guess it's in the Filipino culture to always treasure that invisible 'connection' with your relatives. I guess she really cared about me and getting her pasalubong (gifts from abroad). LOL.

Now it's time to write some foody poems. Here's the first breakfast I had since landing on the PH

Creative Future Literary Awards

I am very happy to announce that I have been given Platinum Award by Creative Futures Literary Awards for my poetry, Way Back Home. CFLA is the only national competition for under-represented and marginalised writers in the UK.

I still cannot believe that I was given the highest award and some wonderful prizes.

This made me want to write more and hone my skills on poetry.

Before the awarding, I was talking to my writer friend, Lerah Barcenilla, and mentioned that last year, I only got Commended, and this year would be my last attempt no matter what level of award I received.

As judge, Kit de Waal read out the winners, I started feeling nervous for some reason. For a moment, I held Lerah to show her how clammy my hand had become. Kit de Waal read out a different name for Commended, and I thanked God straightaway, thinking 'At least I'm highly-commended'. And when Kit de Waal mentioned another name for highly commended, I almost jumped up in joy as I thought I got Bronze. To my utter surprise, she called out different names for Bronze, Silver, and Gold to the point that I thought, there's no way I could've got Platinum! They must've missed my name at some point, I'm sure they'd call out a different name for Platinum! But of course, they called me up to the stage where I received my Platinum Award. I am so grateful to the whole CFLA team and to Dominique De-light for this honour.

Receiving my Platinum Award for Poetry from writer, Kit de Waal

At the Showcase event where I read 'Way Back Home'. 

Interview after the win

Of course, I wouldn't be able to receive this award if not for the people who helped me improve as a writer, and I cannot wait to continue this journey with all the things they taught me.

Two books I've been reading this week

I haven't posted anything else apart from promoting my debut pamphlet and I thought I should definitely give an update on other 'literary'-related things. So I'd like to share what I'm currently reading. I'm not really a 'fast' reader, I cannot devour a book (or even a pamphlet) in one sitting. Truthfully (and this may sound weird) I'd like to be connected longer with a book, to really savour my 'relationship' with it, and revel on its ideas/words/stories/facts. These are 2 books that I'm currently reading:

 

 

Marsh's Do No Harm is an award-winning book that shows how it's like to be a surgeon who operates on people's brain. I love Marsh's revelation of his unique experience as a surgeon, the drama behind each patient and the complexities of a surgical case. As someone who works in a medical field, I can really relate to this. I love that part where Marsh was in a supermarket queue and was on the verge of asking people in front of him: And what did YOU do today? (paraphrase)That sense of self-importance that soon disappered as he realised that he was only as important as the lives of the people on whom he operated (paraphrase). I guess that at one point or another, I did feel that way too - I did think that just because I helped/resuscitated/took care/healed people, I must be so valuable. Nope. That's not really the case in real life.

 

 

 

My mentor's book, Mama Amazonica, of course! I do not need to elaborate how great this book is and the fact that Pascale is a living legend. Pascale Petit is my mentor for Jerwood/Arvon, but for me not to be 'biased', I'll let this review tell you how good Mama Amazonica truly is. Also, Mama Amazonica is the Poetry Book Society's Autumn Choice! My favourite poems in the collection so far: Mama Amazonica, Jaguar Girl, Black Caiman with Butterflies, and more.

 

 

 

 



A poem from Rice & Rain

It's been a month since Rice & Rain came out. Thank you to those who supported it so far! ❤

"Last Offices" is inspired from my experience of washing a dead body for the first time when I was a student nurse. I must've been 19 back then ❤

You can order your copy of Rice & Rain here

Poetry Readings

Hi everyone! I'm inviting all of you to one (or more) of my upcoming poetry readings. I'll be reading from my pamphlet, Rice & Rain. Hope to see you there!

Rice & Rain poetry pamphlet

Only two weeks to go before my debut poetry pamphlet is officially out from V. Press.

 

But I'll let you take a peek at how it looks like (on the outside)

 

 

So, what is Rice & Rain about? It is a snippet of my journey and identity. It's about distant homelands, culture, and human connections. However, if you really want to find out more about it, I feel that my endorsers, Jane Commane and Jane Seabourne describe it best. Read their comments HERE

 

 

 

I'm thankful to Ruth Stacey for its beautiful cover. Sarah, my editor, asked me if I had an idea of what kind of design cover I'd like. I wanted something to do with "stalks of rice" and Ruth really captured this idea. Looking at it now, this reminds me of the Filipino proverb my mum used to tell me:

"Parisan ang palay, habang nagkakalaman ay lalong nagpupugay"

It translates to something like: Be like a rice stalk, the more grains it bears, the lower it bows.

 

I will forever be humble and grateful to everyone who helped me reached this point of my career as a poet.

 ****Thank you, everyone + to the lovely people in my Acknowledgement***

 

Oh, and the best thing is you can now pre-order your copy HERE. Please do, it will be worth it :)



a poster of Philippine rice terraces as a background :-)

My forthcoming pamphlet has a title

After some time working with my publisher, and many brain storming, my debut poetry pamphlet forthcoming from V. Press has now got a title.

When I entered it to their poetry pamphlet competition in 2016, I didn't have a single clue what I would call it; some of my writer friends gave me tips on thinking of a title i.e. to find  a word I used in the  pamphlet which sums up the theme, or a memorable phrase/sentence in one of my poems. Initially I picked a word from my pamphlet which I felt also summed up the metaphorical theme of my pamphlet.. but later on, both my editor and I thought the title was not strong enough. So, another word was picked and those two words are joined  with "&". In the end, we went  for "Rice & Rain".

With this title, can you guess what the incorporating themes of my poetry pamphlet are?

:-)

My debut poetry pamphlet

I have previously mentioned that I will have my debut poetry pamphlet published this year by V. Press. Aside from writing poems for my Jerwood/Arvon mentorship, I have also been editing the manuscript for V. Press. Cups of tea after cups of tea - that's my fuel nowadays. I am so delighted that finally, I submitted my revised manuscript to V. Press yesterday and am now waiting for its finalisation.

Once I receive a thumbs up from the editor and sign the contract, I will then reveal the title of my pamphlet.

I'm so excited and I can't wait to share it with you!

I'm a Jerwood Arvon mentee

I'm so happy to announce that I am now a Jerwood Arvon mentee and will be working with the fabulous Pascale Petit for a year.

I will be working on developing my craft in poetry. On w/c March 13, I got to meet my fellow mentees and other mentors (from playwriting and fiction) during our masterclass week in Totleigh Barton.

We cooked, we hiked, drank wine and beer, shared our work, and of course, we wrote.

I'm so excited to level up my writing and I will share my experience on this blog to keep you updated :-)

My debut poetry pamphlet is going to be published!

☺☺☺
Hi everyone...

I am so glad that my debut poetry pamphlet will be published by the reputable V. Press!

I cannot say the title of my pamphlet or the date of publication yet, but please keep an eye on this blog in the following months as I will definitely be updating you guys!

Thank you for your support everyone :-)

I'm inviting you to my reading at Wolverhampton Original Literature Festival

I'm going to read my poetry at the first-ever Wolverhampton Literature Festival in January 28 and I want all of you to come, please :-) I promise you won't be disappointed and you will enjoy your time listening to my work :-)

It will be on January 28, from 4:15pm to 6:15pm at Wolverhampton Art Gallery.

With me, are fellow poets/writers who will also read their work, and there will be a chance for Q&A at the end of the performance.

Please click HERE for more info


Hope to see you there!
x

New Year! Taking all the eyebags away!

 

After all the late night parties, friends and family gatherings, it's very easy to overlook about our blood-shot, eye-bagged eyes.

 

On Boxing day (26th of Dec) when almost everything at the shops are >50% off, I got this eye roll for only £2! :-o So I tried it.

 

It's called Boots Botanics and it promises to target 'the appearance of dark circles and puffiness' around the eyes, for all skin types.

 

What do I love about it?

* it's cheap

*it feels so soothing to the eyes. (Probably because of the cool metal ball on the tip of the tube.

* the clear gel (note on th ebox: colour may vary due to natural ingredients) feels 'refreshing' in the skin, it's very mild and doesn't hurt my sensitive skin at all.

*The area around my eyes feel so refresh I love to use it whenever I feel sleepy/can't be bothered to get back that ebbulient glow in my eyes (could be psychological), but yeah, I feel refreshed and awakened! Which what we need in 2017 :-)

*Leaves the skin around my eyes feeling moisturised.

*There's no smell/fragrance to it.

 

Cons (although I wouldn't really like to call them 'cons')

*it leaves a shiny mark when it dries (like a slug mark? although apparently slug slime is good to your skin and is actually being used in some skin care products! lol.)

*I wouldn't really say it reduces the dark areas around my eyes, but I do feel a lot refreshed and awakens.

 

For 2 quid, you can't expect to be Sleeping Beauty beautiful, right? But at least I'm feeling more awakened!

 



I'm in Strange Horizons

My poem 'Home, as always' is published in Strange Horizons last month.



Read it HERE

❤

On the back of a Motorbike anthology

So delighted to receive my copy of On the Back of a Motorbike anthology (Literary Concept) in which two of my poems have been published.

The anthology is edited by Kris Williamson and is printed in the USA. It shows 27 works of short fiction, poetry, and creative non fiction on the theme of the motorbike in different countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

So excited to read this over the weekend. :-)

I got an award!

So glad to be Commended in the Poetry category of Creative Future Literary Awards.
I still can't believe it!

All the winner in both poetry and prose categories are published in a beautiful anthology which you can buy HERE

I'm in Under the Radar

I'm so glad to be in Under the Radar's (Nine Arches Press) current issue. :-)
My poem, Once a Flower, is published in this beautiful magazine. Also, I'm loving the poems and stories I've read so far. :) Wheew! Gotta get back to my reading.

Contributors include well-respected writers like Josephine Corcoran, David Attwool, S.A. Leavesley, and many more.

All these Brexit talks

Well, normally, I am a silent poet. Normally, I keep myself to myself and write stuff about myself and other people/things who/that are close to me.

But since this Brexit phenomenon happened, I cannot just be a silent  poet. I have to say something. Amidst all the arguments between Remainia and Leavea, and all the atrocities of blatant bullying, the most important thing I have learnt is that we gotta stand for what we believe in, especially if what we believe in actually makes sense.

So I wrote a poem about what I learned after this Brexit 'seismic' event/malarkey. In this poem, I understood that I have had a Change of Heart. Read this poem HERE

💚

Writing again

It's been a while since I last blogged! I couldn't believe I haven't written any poem for the last two months too. I have been so busy with university works and my career, that those two months seemed to have past so quickly. I mean, I'd always written something at least once a month before this 'hiatus'!

I'm so glad to share the news that I have been invited to submit a poem to an upcoming themed anthology based in Malaysia, so I have been writing again, and of course, my aim is to produce a very good piece of work for this.

I will also be on the next issue of the excellent magazine, Under the Radar (Nine Arches Press) - looking forward to this! UTR has published well respected poets like Angela Readman, Martin Malone, and many more.    Please watch out for their issue 17 in which one of my poems will appear.

 I had also facilitated creative writing workshops for the young people of Wolverhampton at Base 25. I guess I haven't really stopped delivering creative writing workshops at all!

I will be posting more updates about all of these here; I hope you guys are also receiving good and positive news about your writing.  😊 keep being creative!

Guided meditation to sleep

According to NHS Choices, "Insomnia can be triggered by a number of possible factors, including worry and stress, underlying health conditions, and alcohol or drug use.

Sometimes it's not possible to identify a clear cause."

I found this video on YouTube about guided meditation to help me sleep. And it really does. Of course, I do need to give the video and myself a chance - I gotta listen to it mindfully and not allow myself to be distracted by my thoughts. Halfway through this guided meditation I get so relaxed and fall to sleep. I really don't  know if it will work on you guys, but you wouldn't know until you try.

So get yourself in your PJs, in a comfortable position on bed, and listen to this.

Highly-commended in Carers UK Creative Writing Competition

I am so happy to receive my copy of 'No one should have to care alone', an anthology of winning, highly-commended, and chosen poems and stories from Carers UK Creative Writing Competition 2015. My poem, For Ted, is highly commended in this competition which was judged by award winning poet, Cheryl Moskowitz.

The anthology

A note from the judge

This 93-pages book is perfectly bounded and feels quite good in your hands. I'd just had a quick look at some of the  poems and stories and I am still to read all its contents, but so far, it has surely given me a very good impression of what this anthology is like. Some of the writers here are newly published while others are already 'veterans' (and have had won competitions such as Bronte Society Competition), and have publications in magazines like The Rialto, Mslexia, and many more.

My poem, For Ted (highly-commended)

You can get a copy of this anthology HERE