The #PinLit Project

Spreading the love for Philippine Literature

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They lied to us about Independence because it cannot be had. Not here where women still can't walk the streets safely and women drivers are deemed both myth and joke. Where women in power become fodder for nasty talk, those in the lower rungs are victimized both for being women and for being poor. Where women's bodies are being decided on by men. Where two women presidents have weighed the value of the Filipino woman, and found that the Catholic Church is more important. Amen.

Of Love and Other Lemons, Katrina Stuart Santiago

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For anyone in Vancouver, there is a Philippine Cultural Celebration happening. I hope you can visit and take part in this series of events. 

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I am currently reading Katrina Stuart Santiago's Of Love and Other Lemons. It's a wonderful book that many women in a patriarchal society can relate to. Her frustrations and struggles echo with many of us out there. I personally feel the same. I feel choked by our conventions and traditions. I feel as if I cannot exercise who I truly am because of the role our tradition, culture and institutions place on us. 

I will be sharing a few lines from the book one of these days. 

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I left this book on my flight back to Manila. I hope someone's picked it up and is enjoying the wonderful world of Filipino Literature. I sure hope I find a way of knowing if anyone's got them. I haven't been very systematic about these things, but then there's a thrill factor to it. What if years later I happen to find it again?

Such flights of whimsy! I've been buying more books but now I find it so hard to part with them. 

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During the first few days when I arrived, I made it a mission to visit the UP Press to get a copy of Luis Katigbak's Happy Endings. I first read the book of short stories when I was in highschool. My sister was studying in UP at the time and she would bring home books by contemporary filipino authors. 

There is something different about the way Filipinos write. I can't quite pinpoint it but for the most books I've read I think it's nostalgia. 

When I visited Vancouver's public library I was glad to find a "Tagalog" section. There are many good books but I still found it lacking.

I felt that I wanted to contribute to the Filipino community by sharing the books I've read before. I thought Happy Endings would be a great introductory because of its light content. I couldn't get a copy abroad, that's when I realized that not many of my peers back home read Philippine literature, so I thought I'd start the project in my homeland.

I'm a little short on cash but I hope even one book can make the rounds. Hoping to get more books during the UP Press sale this week.