Month: June 2025

Rage Against the Machine: F.H. Batacan Shows How One Can Merge Anger with Grace

What author doesn’t dream of writing a book that inspires a movie, now available to stream on Netflix? F.H. Batacan’s SMALLER AND SMALLER CIRCLES (written 26 years ago) not only pioneered a genre (crime fiction) and won the Palanca and the National Book Award, but also got picked up by Soho Press for international publication.… Read More Rage Against the Machine: F.H. Batacan Shows How One Can Merge Anger with Grace

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First Love, Last Love: PBC’s Twin Bill is Social Commentary Masked as Rom-Coms

(Photo credit: The Playbook Club) To watch a show both written and produced by young theater artists mostly in their twenties is a refreshing theatergoing experience. There’s that fearless idealism, which is the hallmark of college plays, merged with the growing awareness of the callous, grown-up world beyond the walls of sheltered universities. But then… Read More First Love, Last Love: PBC’s Twin Bill is Social Commentary Masked as Rom-Coms

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Yñiga: A Literary Crime Novel that Tackles the Past and Future of Being Filipino

“The status quo did not mean peace.” Glenn Diaz’s 2022 novel about a middle-aged teacher fleeing her violent past has been picked up by Tilted Axis Press, as well as shortlisted for the Novel Prize in 2020. It is many things: a literary crime novel, a concise history of Philippine contemporary history from the time… Read More Yñiga: A Literary Crime Novel that Tackles the Past and Future of Being Filipino

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