litcritters

This week:

Sunday by Althea Kontis
Patriotism by Yukio Mishima
Tk'tk'tk by David D. Levine
Cigarettes and Roses by Ben Peek


Last week:

Still Life With Boobs by Anne Harris
Fox Magic by Kij Johnson
Singing My Sister Down by Margo Laganan
The Recrudescence of Imray by Rudyard Kipling


Next week:

A Tropical Winter's Tale by Charleson Ong
Limbo Years by Pearlsha Abubakar
Mahogany Water by Socorro Villanueva
The Index of Forbidden Books by Paul de Guzman



*The Litcritters, for the curious, is a reading/writing group that meets weekly to discuss the readings with mutliple goals: to discover new stories and authors, for reading pleasure, to expland reading horizons, to hone our critical faculties, and to learn writerly craft and techniques. My belief is that appreciation (and writing/development) of speculative fiction can only be improved by exposure to other kinds of fiction (domestic/social realism, classics, etc.), which is why the required readings are not purely spec fic (and as writers, it is a good idea to expose yourself to different flavors of writing and modes of thinking). This includes works by Filipino authors - because we would be truly impoverished if we didn't read stories written by our own countrymen.

The writing part involves creating stories (every two months or so), which are then workshopped and subjected to critiques, with an eye towards developing quality manuscripts for publishing locally and abroad. Each Litcritter session is preceded by a lecture on some aspect of writing and/or literary criticism.

Currently, all slots are filled but there exists the possibility that we will hold an extended open workshop for interested writers in the future. That said, while I cannot entertain face-to-face discussions or extended email exchanges, I can share the readings (I send them out once a week). If you are interested in receiving digital copies of the materials (these are for personal use and discussion purposes only - the authors hold all the rights), email me.