EVERY year since I was inducted to the Palanca Awards Hall of Fame in 2012, without fail, I get many, many, many interviews from students all over the Philippines on my life as a writer.
I guess that is expected as I am now considered by many as “an important Filipino writer,” and “the preeminent Ilonggo/Hiligaynon writer of the 21st century.”
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These titles are not my own invention.
These are given to me by the students who interview me, and their teachers who assign them to interview me.
Of course, they could just be flattering me so that I will participate in their interview.
Oh, but to be asked!
To be flattered that way.
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And so, without a doubt, I have established a reputation as “the most accessible Filipino writer online.”
Well, that one is my own invention.
I put the crown on my head myself.
Because why not?
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My invitation to the Sharjah International Book Fair in the United Arab Emirates in 2015 based on my “strong online presence” — their words, not mine — proves my claim.
I mean, I was the first Filipino author ever invited as guest to the fourth largest book fair in the world, and the biggest in the Muslim world.
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And because I always substantiate my titles and claims, I do this thing and answer interviews again and again.
Sometimes, to save time, I publish these interviews so that all other students can just copy paste them, if and when they need them.
And so, here we go again:
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Q: What was your childhood dream?
ThePSN: When I was a teenager, I guess my ambition was to outgrow my poverty, to be some kind of a success in the eyes of very judgmental neighbors and relatives.
In a phrase, that translates to “to be rich and famous.”
I remember becoming a doctor was a big dream for people of my generation, and so I also prayed to become one for a while.
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But that didn’t stop me from dreaming to be an astronaut, and even President of the country.
I had passing dreams of becoming a dancer like John Travolta in “Grease” and “Saturday Night Fever,” becoming a brain surgeon, and you all know now that I studied in the seminary to become a Roman Catholic priest.
So there goes dreaming as far as dreaming goes.
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Q: Why did you decide to be a writer?
ThePSN: The decision to be a literary writer came pretty late in my career.
I did campus journalism since my elementary school years.
I was very good at it.
I was two-term editor-in-chief in high school.
And I was editor-in-chief at the University of the Philippines!
To be an editor at UP was a pretty big achievement back in the 1980s.
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My campus journalism training served me well.
I was given a writing job in an Ilonggo newspaper in 2000, and I haven’t stopped writing my newspaper columns even until now.
Yes, it’s been 21 years!
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My foray into literary writing started at UP in 1988, when I studied the poems and stories submitted to our college paper.
I thought, I could not be a good editor if I don’t understand the forms, so I doubled time and did a crash course in literature.
Then, I realized that I liked writing poetry and other literary stuff.
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I completed a book of poems on my final year at UP.
But that wasn’t published until three years later, in 1993. My first book led to more books, but I still didn’t consider myself as a writer.
I felt my works were inferior to the works of some writers I really admired.
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And then, my Palanca Awards happened.
I won first prize for my short story in 1998.
And to prove that it wasn’t just a fluke, I continued entering pieces to the Palanca contests.
Until I won my fifth first prize in 2012.
Now, that’s a 14-year journey!
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Today, I have a total of 19 Palanca Awards including the Hall of Fame.
But it was in 2012 that I decided that I was a real writer. That I want to become a full-time writer.
That I’m also pretty good as a literary writer—as poet, playwright, and fictionist, in addition to the newspaper essays and love letters that I write.
So, I left my lucrative job as a Registered Nurse in the US.
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To answer the question, I decided to be a writer because I have proven that I am pretty good at writing.
And I wanted to be a Filipino writer that young people can also look up to.
I think that we need good models of Filipino writers in the new millennium. (To be continued)/PN
