In this round-up of literary news, our editors report to us on resilience, adaptation, and performance. In Palestine, a remarkable poet is honoured with a prestigious award; in the Philippines, literary works take to the cinema and the stage; and in Mexico City, an annual multidisciplinary book fair brings together literature, music, film, and more.
Carol Khoury, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Palestine
In the heart of a world often forgotten, where borders and conflict has created an intricate tapestry of endurance, there lives a poet named Mosab Abu Toha. He is a man of extraordinary eloquence, a lyrical visionary born amidst the chaos of Gaza. Each morning, as the sun timidly broke through the horizon, Mosab’s words flowed like a river, weaving tales of resilience and hope from the depths of despair. He perches on his metaphorical throne, the Edward Said Library, a sanctuary of knowledge he had founded in the heart of Gaza.
Mosab’s poetry is a testament to his life—marked by the relentless siege that encircled his homeland. From childhood innocence to the responsibilities of fatherhood, he had witnessed four brutal military onslaughts, yet his verses breathe with a profound humanity that refuses to wither. As Mosab’s words echoed through the world, many took notice of his poetry debut Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza, (City Lights Books, 2022). He was amongst the winners of the Forty-Fourth Annual American Book Awards, announced last week. The book was also a winner of the 2022 Palestine Book Award.
Read an interview with him at PEN America’s weekly series, and a reading and discussion (video and transcript) can also be found at The Jerusalem Fund.
And far from the headlines and the spotlight, in the same enclave, three Gazan women also added their voices to the chorus of survival. Their books, A White Lie by Madeeha Hafez Albatta; Light the Road of Freedom by Sahbaa Al-Barbari; and Come My Children by Hekmat Al-Taweel, bear witness to the strength and courage of the women of Gaza, further enriching the archive of resilience.
Alton Melvar M Dapanas, Editor-at-Large, reporting from the Philippines
From the shelves to the screen, Bob Ong’s bestselling mystery-horror novel, Ang Mga Kaibigan ni Mama Susan (The Friends of Mama Susan), has wowed readers and viewers both within and outside the country. An original Philippine production of Amazon Prime, the film adaptation is directed by Chito S Roño (who has received recognition from the Asia-Pacific Film Festival and the ASEAN International Film Festival and Awards) and stars Joshua Garcia—with Ong writing the screenplay himself.
Ang Mga Kaibigan ni Mama Susan tells its story through the journal entries of sixteen-year-old Galo, a college boy from a Manila university who finds himself in the countryside, where he meets the peculiar villagers surrounding his gravely ill grandmother Josefa, known as Mama Susan. Philippine Daily Inquirer has called the movie “a fright-fest combined with decent acting and stylish cinematography,” while Spin.ph praised the acting of both Garcia and the late Angie Fierro, who portrayed Mama Susan. Republic Asia has also commended Roño for “effectively channel[ing] the book’s bloodcurdling narrative into a big screen masterpiece.”
Another exciting development in cinema is the upcoming adaptation of “Nang Mapagod si Kamatayan” (When Death Got Tired), a short story from screenwriter, novelist, and National Artist Ricky Lee’s satirical collection, Kung Alam N’yo Lang (If You Only Knew)—which will begin filming soon. Directed by Dan Villegas from the Marilou Diaz Abaya Film Institute and Berlinale Talents in Europe, Nang Mapagod si Kamatayan has casted Daniel Padilla and International Emmy-nominated actor Zanjoe Marudo. Both of Lee’s and Ong’s books were published by indie press Visprint (also the publisher of Asymptote contributors Stefani J Alvarez and Ferdinand Pisigan Jarin), which sadly folded in 2020.
Two plays translated into the Filipino have also been re-staged as of late. Jerry Respeto’s Ang Pag-uusig (The Persecution), a translation of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, was performed by Tanghalang Pilipino, the resident theatre company of the Cultural Centre of the Philippines. Pat Valera’s Mula sa Buwan (From the Moon), Soc Rodrigo’s translation (and adaptation, transplanting the setting into 1940s Manila) of the autofictional Cyrano de Bergerac by French neo-romanticist Edmond Rostand, was performed by the Barefoot Theatre Collective. Tatler Asia applauded Respeto’s Ang Pag-uusig as a testament of how “art can only appease you when you allow it to wreck you first,” while CNN Philippines named Mula sa Buwan a “brave reminder that dreaming has a place in times of turmoil.”
In Baguio City, the Centre for Culture and the Arts of Saint Louis University celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of its founding with a presentation of Kapadpada, a musical dance drama about the plight of the Igorot, an indigenous peoples group in the northern Philippines. The show is based on the events that transpired within the 47-acre “Philippine Reservation” of The Louisiana Purchase Exposition (or the 1904 St Louis World’s Fair), where more than 1300 Filipinos were transported and imprisoned for the purposes of anthropological exhibition.
In the world of Philippine theatre, the recent months also saw restagings of Ang Larawan: The Musical (The Portrait: A Musical), based on the late National Artist Nick Joaquin’s play, A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino (1966); the Palanca Award-winning Juan Ekis’ one-act, Twenty Questions; and Ang Huling El Bimbo: The Musical (The Last El Bimbo: The Musical), based on a song from alternative band Eraserheads. The Ballet Manila has also run Don Quixote and Ibong Adarna (Adarna Bird), adapted to the stage from a corrido (a narrative metrical ballad) attributed to the 18th-century Tagalog poet Huseng Sisiw, the penname of José de la Cruz.
Alan Mendoza Sosa, Editor-at-Large, reporting on Mexico and the United States
Between August 29 and September 3, the fifth edition of the International University Book Fair (FILUNI) took place in Mexico City. The event kicked off with a music performance by The University of Texas’s Miró Quartet, followed by a panel in which the performers shared their experiences playing for audiences all around the world. With a multidisciplinary spirit, the fair featured panels, roundtables, performances, concerts, lectures, and even movie screenings. Asymptote contributors were also present, sharing and reading from their work; among them were Mexican poet Balam Rodrigo, whose urgent poems deal with migration, political violence, and community in Central America, and Hubert Matiúwàa, whose poems combine the indigenous Me’phaa language and cosmovision with Spanish to criticize historical and contemporary colonialism, extractivism, and cultural violence. Giving center stage to diverse voices and momentous conversations, FILUNI 2023 became a robust forum for addressing global challenges in a dynamic and intellectually-stimulating environment.
In the United States, the Feria Internacional del Libro de Nueva York (International New York Book Fair) has been revealing its 2023 line up on social media. Taking place from September 21 to 24, the annual event gives space to Hispanic voices from all over the world. The theme for this year is “Between Resistance and Memory.” FILNYC is characterized by its history of bringing together the most cutting-edge Spanish-language voices, and in the previous editions, it has featured stellar writers who have also published in Asymptote, such as Daniel Saldaña, Edmundo Paz Soldán, and Ariana Harwicz. This year, its notable names include Gabriel Wiener, Oswaldo Estrada, and Gabriela Cabezón Cámara.
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