[This is Part 1 of my birthday essay, a memory piece to celebrate my upcoming 47th birthday. I’m trying to remember who I was and what made me by trying to recall four specific ages — 7, 17, 27, and 37.] When I was seven, I did not know the…

One of the most dynamic, and humbling, things I do in my vocation as both writer and cultural worker has been moderating writing workshops for teachers. I cannot recall when this exactly began for me, but it has been a while. …

Sometime ago, a friend of mine who is a writer decided to decamp to Dumaguete to live — if only for a few years. [That was the plan; it was nothing permanent.] …

It is not like art-making in Dumaguete has only now began to stir. The thread of this series on Dumaguete art has always been about how it has thrived, despite the raging pandemic that continues to bedevil and challenge us to this day. …

I recently went live with a project I’ve been meaning to do for the longest time — launching an online literary journal devoted to writers and writings from Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, and Siquijor. It’s called Buglas Literary Journal, and you can catch its maiden issue at this link. [We…

I know nothing about NFT art, but like many things, this is a perfectly good way to begin. This is therefore an attempt at definition, and a scrutiny into what it has meant of late in the wider world, and finally an examination of how far Dumaguete art has taken…

We were having drinks at Tempat Raya Malaysian Kitchen a few nights ago, and a visiting writer/friend from Laguna dropped by. He had been prowling the streets of Dumaguete all day, looking for places to write and drink — which, according to him, fueled his creativity, and which he needed…

It’s not at all like riding a bike. You remember the proverbial promise, of course: that once you get on one after years of not doing it all, all the memories of biking will come running back to you. The skill was dormant — it only needed awakening. It’s not…

It is Thursday, the 2nd of June, and Vince Lopez has not slept. He has not slept fitfully in the past two or three months, and more so in recent days, because of work. There is work to be done in the daylight hours as he sets about preparing for…