@taboan

"Taboan" means "meeting place", among other things, and my first day as one of the delegates from all over the country was both pleasant and enlightening. It was great seeing old friends again, as well as people I see only on special occasions (like awards nights) - but even better was being able to meet writers I knew only through their work or reputation. As if I needed convincing before, I am utterly of the belief that the "Imperial Manila" train of thought (i.e. that the "best" writers come only from Manila) is a crock of bull. The mix of senior writers and younger writers was wonderful (and I had my second galvanizing talk with F. Sionil Jose).

I enjoyed the discussion sessions that I attended, one as a spectator cum resource speaker, and the other as a panelist. The first one was on writing as a living (flash fact: writers like Krip Yuson and Butch Dalisay can charge something like a million pesos to write a biography or coffee table book). The second one was on mainstream alternates where I got to talk about spec fic.

I look forward to rest of the conference. So far, the NCCA deserves kudos for implementing such a good thing.

Go visit the Taboan site.