filipino events at the sydney writers festival, 24-25 may, 2008

The Philippine Consulate General in Sydney announces that the 2008 Sydney Writers’ Festival will be held from 19 to 25 May 2008 in various locations in Sydney.

This is the 9th year of the Sydney Writers’ Festival which will bring 70 international guests from all parts of the world. The great writers and thinkers participating in the Festival will cover fiction, non-fiction, poetry, journalism, scriptwriting, film, new media and much more."

One of the important highlights of this year's event is the participation of Filipino literati consisting of Dr. Jose "Butch" Dalisay, Dr. Jose Wendell Capili, Merlinda Bobis, Robert Nery, Cesar Leyco Aguila and Pascal Daanton Berry.

The Consulate supported the participation of Dr. Jose "Butch" Dalisay as one of the invited international writers. Dr. Dalisay has won awards and prizes for his fiction, poetry, drama, nonfiction and screenplays, including 16 Palanca Awards. He teaches English and Creative Writing as a full-time professor at the University of the Philippines. His novel Soledad's Sister was shortlisted for the inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize in 2007.

Consul General Maria Theresa Lazaro said that the "participation of Dr. Dalisay, Dr. Capili and the other distinguished Filipino-Australian writers is Australia's recognition of the rich literary and cultural heritage of the Philippines".

The Consulate invites the Filipino-Australian community to attend any of the following Filipino events of the Sydney Writers' Festival:

1. Spotlight on Asia
25 May 2008, 9:30-10:30 a.m.
Sydney Theatre, Richard Wherrett Studieo, 22 Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay

- Dr. Dalisay offers a compassionate portrayal of contemporary society from the Philippines

2. Cultures Intertwined: Junot Diaz and Jose Dalisay
25 May 2008, 3:30-4:30 pm
Pier 2/3, Downstairs, Pier 2/3, Hickson Road. Walsli Bay

- Junot Diaz and Jose Dalisay discuss their novels that cross time and space and deal wit history and migration

3. Salu-Salo: In Conversation with Filipino-Australian Writers
25 May 2008, 3:00-5:00 pm
Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, 1 Casula Road, Casula

- Salu-salo is the first anthology of Filipino-Australian writing revealing the positive contributions of Philippine communities in Australia. Merlinda Bobis, Cesar Leyco Aguila and Robert Nery speak with editor, Jose Wendell Capili

Booking essential: 98241121 or reception@casulapowerhouse.com

4. Writing for Performance with Daantos Berry
24 May 2008, 3:30-4 30 pm
Blacktown Arts Centre, 78 Flushcombe Rd, Blacktown

- Pascal Daantos Berry explores writing for contemporary performance. This session marks the Blacktown launch of Salu-Salo - an anthology of Philippine-Australian writing.

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Sydney Writers' Festival 2008 - Online Program

Writing for Performance with Pascal Daantos Berry Event 246
Pascal Daantos Berry is the writer of the critically acclaimed theatre production The Folding Wife. This session explores writing for contemporary performance in a multi-artform context and is illustrated with video recordings from a 2007 performance of the play. Berry discusses his practice, with a focus on the very specific writing required for the development of The Folding Wife script into a theatre production. He speaks with Jose Wendell P. Capilli. The event also marks the Blacktown launch of Salu-Salo – an anthology of contemporary Philippine Australian writing. The anthology of creative writing by Filipino migrant writers in Australia aims to heighten the consciousness of Australians about the positive contributions of various Philippine communities in Australia.	Participants Pascal Daantos Berry, Jose Wendell P. Capili (facilitator) When Saturday, May 24 2008 15:30 - 16:30 Where Blacktown Arts Centre 78 Flushcombe Rd Blacktown Venue and Transport Info... Cost Free Bookings 9839 6558
PASCAL DAANTOS BERRY (LOCAL) Pascal Daantos Berry is a young writer and dramaturg, originally from Cebu, The Philippines. His most recent work, The Folding Wife, was produced in 2007 in association with Urban Theatre Projects and Blacktown Arts Centre. His other work includes Jerusalem Syndrome, The Great Tale, Found Objects, Triptych, Ancestry of My Eyes, Conversations Through the Wall, Defecating Jesus and Querida. His awards include Belvoir Street Theatre’s Asian Australian Young Playwrights Award 1996 and a London Royal Court Residency in 2000. His work has been presented for Radio National, Griffin Theatre, Australian Choreographic Centre, Belvoir Street Theatre, Performance Space, ATYP, Multicultural Theatre Alliance, Platform 27 and Canberra Youth Theatre. JOSE WENDELL P. CAPILI (LOCAL) Jose Wendell P. Capili earned his degrees from the University of Santo Tomas, University of the Philippines, University of Tokyo, the University of Cambridge and the Australian National University, where he completed his PhD at the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies. He is an Associate Professor at the University of the Philippines College of Arts and Letters where he is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Head of the Graduate Studies Office. He has received Palanca, Cultural Center of the Philippines and University of the Philippines prizes for literature as well as scholarships, grants and fellowships from the British, Japanese, Korean, Philippine, Malaysian and Australian governments. Capili has four books A Madness of Birds, Bloom and Memory, Mabuhay to Beauty (as editor) and From the Editors: Migrant Communities and Emerging Australian Literature (as editor). In 2005, he was a visiting scholar at the National University of Singapore, University of Sydney, University of Western Australia, University of Melbourne and the University of Queensland. also appearing at... 314: Salu-Salo: in Conversation with Filipino-Australian Writers

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Salu-Salo: in Conversation with Filipino-Australian Writers Event 314
As part of its commitment to give voice to local communities, Casula Powerhouse partners with Blacktown Arts Centre to publish Salu-Salo, the first-ever anthology of Filipino-Australian writing. The anthology reveals the positive contributions of various Philippine communities and addresses current and past generations' processes of integration into multicultural Australia. The event will bring together writers Merlinda Bobis, Cesar Leyco Aguila and Robert Nery to start the conversation with anthology editor, Jose Wendell Capili. The talk will be followed by the launch of the anthology.	Participants Merlinda Bobis, Robert Nery, Cesar Leyco Aguila, Jose Wendell P. Capili (facilitator) When Sunday, May 25 2008 15:00 - 17:00 Where Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre 1 Casula Road Casula Venue and Transport Info... Cost Free Bookings essential 9824 1121 reception@casulapowerhouse.com
CESAR LEYCO AGUILA (LOCAL) Cesar Leyco Aguila moved from the Philippines to Australia over 20 years ago, leaving behind a rich body of work as a journalist (United Press International, The Asian News Service, The Philippines Herald, Philippines Free Press) and as a writer of short stories and poems (the University of Santo Tomas’ prestigious journal, The Varsitarian, Sunday Times Magazine, Kislap, Graphic). In Australia, Cesar Leyco Aguila joined SBS as a sub-editor before becoming an associate producer of its evening news television programme and radio chief of staff. It was while at SBS that he began work on his first novel, the historical Between Two Worlds. JOSE WENDELL P. CAPILI (LOCAL) Jose Wendell P. Capili earned his degrees from the University of Santo Tomas, University of the Philippines, University of Tokyo, the University of Cambridge and the Australian National University, where he completed his PhD at the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies. He is an Associate Professor at the University of the Philippines College of Arts and Letters where he is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Head of the Graduate Studies Office. He has received Palanca, Cultural Center of the Philippines and University of the Philippines prizes for literature as well as scholarships, grants and fellowships from the British, Japanese, Korean, Philippine, Malaysian and Australian governments. Capili has four books A Madness of Birds, Bloom and Memory, Mabuhay to Beauty (as editor) and From the Editors: Migrant Communities and Emerging Australian Literature (as editor). In 2005, he was a visiting scholar at the National University of Singapore, University of Sydney, University of Western Australia, University of Melbourne and the University of Queensland. also appearing at... 246: Writing for Performance with Pascal Daantos Berry ROBERT NERY (LOCAL) Robert Nery is a poet, critic, video artist and filmmaker. His short videos (in collaboration with Gabrielle Finnane) have been shown in various places in Australia. His 90-minute video essay Black Nazarene centres on the Holy Week crucifixions in a town north of Manila. He co-wrote I, Eugenia, directed by Gabrielle Finnane. He is a member of The Boondocks, and is at work on its first project, I, On A Tropical Night – on Ferdinand Marcos and life during the Cold War – to be installed in Casula Powerhouse in 2008. He has also a forthcoming video essay, The Hero Takes A Walk, shot during a recent Asialink residency in Manila. Nery studied social anthropology and philosophy at the University of Sydney. He is currently enrolled in the Doctorate in Creative Arts program at the University Of Technology. MERLINDA BOBIS (LOCAL) Merlinda Bobis has received various awards, prizes and fellowships for her fiction, poetry and plays. Her poetry book Summer was a Fast Train Without Terminals was shortlisted for The Age Poetry Book Award. Her plays have been performed in Australia, The Philippines, France, China, Thailand and the Slovak Republic. Banana Heart Summer was her first novel and was shortlisted for the Australian Literary Society Gold Medal. The Solemn Lantern Maker is her second novel. As a performer for stage and radio, Merlinda works with artists from various genres and she lectures in creative writing at the University of Wollongong. www.merlindabobis.com.au

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Spotlight on Asia Event 269
Jose Dalisay Jr was shortlisted for the 2007 Man Asian Literary Prize for Soledad's Sister which offers an unillusioned, compassionate portrayal of contemporary society from a Philippines perspective. David Davidar’s unflinching novel is set among the Bombay riots of the 1990s. The Solitude of Emperors is about what drives fundamentalist beliefs and what makes someone driven, bold or mad enough to make a stand. Felix Cheong is a Singaporean poet whose recurrent themes include love, the act of writing and humanity. Jose Dalisay Jr, David Davidar and Felix Cheong discuss their work.	Participants Felix Cheong, David Davidar, Jose Dalisay Jr When Sunday, May 25 2008 09:30 - 10:30 Where Sydney Theatre, Richard Wherrett Studio 22 Hickson Road Walsh Bay Venue and Transport Info... Cost $15/$10 Bookings 9250 1988 www.sydneytheatre.org.au
FELIX CHEONG (INTERNATIONAL) Felix Cheong was the recipient of the National Arts Council’s Young Artist of the Year for Literature Award in 2000. He has published three books of poetry. He has also published a non-fiction book, Different, which includes interviews with more than 50 successful Singaporeans such as pop singer Kit Chan and entrepreneur Charles Wong. His first work of teen fiction, The Call from Crying House is now being used as an English literature text in secondary schools. The sequel, Woman in the Last Carriage, was published in 2007. Felix’s creative work has been published extensively in newspapers, poetry journals and foreign journals. A graduate of the National University of Singapore, Felix completed his Master of Philosophy in creative writing at the University of Queensland in 2002. He is currently an adjunct lecturer at LASALLE College of the Arts, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and Temasek Polytechnic. In addition, he’s a film critic with Today and a regular columnist with business weekly The Edge Singapore. also appearing at... 99: Poetry International JOSE DALISAY JR (INTERNATIONAL) Jose Dalisay Jr. has won awards and prizes for his fiction, poetry, drama, nonfiction and screenplays, including 16 Palanca Awards. Soledade’s Sister was shortlisted for the Man Asia Prize. Jose Dalisay Jr.’s participation in Sydney Writers’ Festival is supported by the Philippine Consulate General. www.penmanila.net also appearing at... 316: Cultures Intertwined: Junot Díaz and Jose Dalisay DAVID DAVIDAR (INTERNATIONAL) David Davidar is President and Publisher of Penguin Books Canada. Additionally, he is a director on the board of Penguin India. Before he was transferred to Toronto in January 2004, he was Group CEO of Pearson India. Davidar began his publishing career in his mid twenties as one of the founding members of Penguin India. Penguin India is now Asia’s largest English language consumer publishing house, publishing over 200 new books a year. The Penguin India list includes some of the best known Indian authors (and authors who write about India) in the world. Before he came to Penguin, Davidar was a magazine editor in Bombay, editing one of India’s largest English language magazines. David Davidar obtained his BSc from Madras University and has a diploma in publishing from Harvard University. He has also attended senior management programmes at INSEAD and the Indian Institute of Management. His first novel, The House of Blue Mangoes, was published around the world and was translated into 16 languages and sold over 100,000 copies. It featured on the Amazon Hot 100 list and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and a Booksense ‘76 pick. His second novel, The Solitude of Emperors, was published in 2007. also appearing at... 341: From Pen to Reader 84: Tales of Obsession 100: David Davidar in Conversation

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Cultures Intertwined: Junot Díaz and Jose Dalisay Event 316
Junot Díaz’s The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a multi-generational tale about the de Leon family whose lives are split between the Dominican Republic and New Jersey, while the shadow of the dictator Rafael Trujillo hovers over the story like Sauron. Jose Dalisay Jr’s Soledad’s Sister was shortlisted for the 2007 Man Asia prize. It begins when a casket arrives at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, bearing the body of one among over 300 overseas workers who return as corpses at Manila’s airport every year. Junot Díaz and Jose Dalisay discuss their award winning novels that cross time and space, and deal with the products of two cultures.	Participants Junot Díaz, Jose Dalisay Jr When Sunday, May 25 2008 15:30 - 16:30 Where Pier 2/3, Downstairs Pier 2/3, Hickson Road Walsh Bay Venue and Transport Info... Cost $15/$10 Bookings 9250 1988 www.sydneytheatre.org.au
JOSE DALISAY JR (INTERNATIONAL) Jose Dalisay Jr. has won awards and prizes for his fiction, poetry, drama, nonfiction and screenplays, including 16 Palanca Awards. Soledade’s Sister was shortlisted for the Man Asia Prize. Jose Dalisay Jr.’s participation in Sydney Writers’ Festival is supported by the Philippine Consulate General. www.penmanila.net also appearing at... 269: Spotlight on Asia JUNOT DIAZ (INTERNATIONAL) Junot Díaz was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He is a graduate of Rutgers University and received his Master of fine arts degree from Cornell University. His collection of short stories, Drown, was described as "a dazzlingly talented first book" by Hermione Lee in the Independent on Sunday. He teaches creative writing at Massachussetts Institute of Technology. The critically acclaimed The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is his first novel. It recently won the Pulitzer prize for fiction. www.junotdiaz.com also appearing at... 193: The Big Reading 224: Junot Díaz in Conversation with Ramona Koval 330: Closing Address: Junot Díaz

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butch dalisay in international herald tribune

Belatedly, Asia's literary scene comes of age

HONG KONG: By Donald Greenlees

When Xu Xi's first novel was printed in 1994, she thought she had finally broken down the barricades of the publishing houses. She felt she had entered an inner circle where, even if the writing was still hard work, the rewards of being printed and read would flow a little more easily.

She soon discovered that being published in English by a small printing house in her hometown, Hong Kong, did not ensure the interest of the handful of companies based in the United States and Britain that dominate global English-language publishing.

After that first novel, "Chinese Walls," set in the 1960s in a Hong Kong that was poor and crowded with raucous bars filled with GIs on leave from the Vietnam War, she went on to write five more. She even moved to New York in the hope that, somehow, proximity to international publishers might help open their doors.

"Publishers in New York and London were encouraging," she said. "But they didn't basically know what to do with a Hong Kong writer."

In October, that started to change. Xu's latest novel, "Habit of a Foreign Sky," made it onto the short list for Asia's first literary prize of real international standing.

Her gritty tales of the lives of Hong Kongers, free of the stereotypes in many of the Western accounts of the former British colony, had long been hailed by scholars, dissected in creative writing classes and popular with Hong Kong and Chinese-American readers.

But when she and four other authors were named as finalists for the Man Asian Literary Prize, international publishers suddenly took notice. The prize, which recognizes Asian novels unpublished in English, is to be awarded for the first time Saturday.

"Since I made the short list three publishers have called my agent - one from New York, one from London and one from Australia," she said. But her reaction was: "This is nice; isn't it about time?"

Many writers of Asian fiction, who have struggled for years to be acknowledged outside small audiences in their own countries, would endorse that sentiment.

But there are signs the Asian literary industry is starting to come of age, increasing the opportunities for many more Asian writers to gain international recognition.

International publishers and literary agents say they are seeking many more works in Asia to bring to English-language audiences. They are also looking for new voices and genres that go beyond what publishers call "scar" or "misery" literature - about life in poverty under repressive regimes - and capture the rapid social and economic transformation of the new Asia.

At the same time, they say Asia is building the infrastructure for a developed literary industry. They say it can be seen in the growth of international publishers opening regional offices to scout for talent and sell books in fast-growing English- and local-language markets; the emergence and greater importance of Asian literary festivals; and the numbers of Asian works being translated into Western languages.

"Until recently, you would have been hard-pressed to identify what I call a literary industry in Asia," said Peter Gordon, the editor of The Asian Review of Books and a publisher based in Hong Kong.

"But there are indications the industry has developed and now exists. There comes a moment where a number of distinct points gel into what you call an industry."

The consequences will be an increasing volume of works of fiction coming out of Asia in the years ahead amid an expanding market within Asia for fiction in both English and local languages.

Like the rest of the Asian story, China and India dominate the business calculus.

The British publisher Penguin, which opened a China office in late 2005, has recorded sales growth of 200 percent a year, according to Jo Lusby, the general manager of Penguin China, based in Beijing.

"It's a market we believe is underserved," Lusby said. "It's a very exciting market for us."

Penguin has been selling English-language titles in China and translations of popular children's stories. But the majority of consumers of books in English are no longer expatriates, she said. They are now middle-class Chinese.

At the end of this year, Penguin will also introduce its first Chinese translations of classic English literature under the Penguin logo in a deal with a state-owned publisher. It plans to bring out 30 new titles in this series a year.

Gordon, who runs Chameleon, a small publisher, and an online book seller in Hong Kong, said the consumption of fiction was matching the "exponential growth" of Asia's economies.

"When people have growing incomes, they start to buy CDs and they start to buy books," he said. "Increasing demand means people write more books and you have a virtuous cycle."

A prime motivation for international publishers to set up offices in the region is to find new authors. Late last year, HarperCollins signed a collaboration agreement with the People's Literature Publishing House and announced its first project: three Chinese novels to be translated into English.

In April, PanMacmillan started Picador Asia with the aim of acquiring three to four titles a year related to East Asia.

The decision to begin recruiting in China could pay off handsomely for Penguin with the signing of translation rights to a book by a 61-year-old retired Chinese academic who uses the pen name Jiang Rong. His "Wolf Totem" led China's best-seller list in 2004, selling two million copies in its legitimate edition and an estimated four million pirated copies.

Jiang, who based the book on his own experiences in Inner Mongolia in the 1960s, also made it to the short list for the Man Asian Literary Prize. The book, which Lusby described as a sharp departure from the bitter memoirs of early Communist rule that have come out of China in recent years, will be released in English in March.

Marysia Juszczakiewicz, a literary agent with Creative Work in Hong Kong, said the growing presence of international publishers in Asia was resulting in the discovery and translation of authors who might never have been noticed outside their own countries.

Until recently, Jiang "would probably not have been discovered because there are so few people looking," she said. "Before, publishers would not have been looking actively at best-seller lists in China and thinking whether that would have worked outside."

Juszczakiewicz, who represents Xu, said one effect is that foreign audiences are going to be exposed to a much wider range of authors and styles of fiction than they have seen in the past from much of Asia. She cited one of her own authors, Feng Tang.

"He is the Nick Hornby of China," she said. "He is very funny."

But China is fashionable now and, even so, only a few writers are likely to benefit.

Like writers elsewhere, most aspiring Asian novelists can look forward to the demoralizing combination of anonymity and financial hardship, said Jose Dalisay, a Filipino author.

Dalisay is also in the running for the Man Asian Literary Prize and did get calls from international publishers after his darkly comic book, "Soledad's Sister," made the short list. But he does not expect to be able to turn writing into a full-time living any time soon.

"I am always scrambling for jobs," he said. He juggles low-paid work teaching English at a university with part-time journalism and other writing assignments.

"The acclaim is there," he said. "The Philippines is a society that, strangely enough, values its writers and artists but hardly pays them anything."

jose y. dalisay jr. makes the short list of the inaugural the man asian literary prize (the asian booker prize)

2007 Man Asian Literary Prize - Shortlist Announced
Five authors make the shortlist for inaugural prize

Hong Kong, 25 October 2007 – Jose Dalisay Jr., Reeti Gadekar, Jiang Rong, Nu Nu Yi Inwa and Xu Xi are the five authors selected for the shortlist by the judging panel for the inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize, the first regional prize for a work unpublished in English. The winner of the prize will be announced on Saturday 10 November, 2007 at a ceremony in Hong Kong.

The five shortlisted works were chosen from a longlist of 23 are:

Jose Dalisay Jr., Soledad's Sister
Reeti Gadekar, Families at Home
Nu Nu Yi Inwa, Smile As They Bow
Jiang Rong, Wolf Totem
Xu Xi, Habit of a Foreign Sky

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congratulations butch!