New fiction anthology ‘Maximum Volume’ breaks genre barrier

It was on the way to another meeting on Friday, February 28, when a sign outside Powerbooks in Greenbelt caused this writer to pause for a bit. A new fiction anthology was being launched. Word of it emerged from time to time on my social media feed, but that Friday night saw the launch of Maximum Volume: Best New Philippine Fiction 2014 (Anvil Publishing/Et Al.), the first in a projected series of anthologies of contemporary short fiction in English.

The anthology contains 13 stories selected from dozens of submissions. However, what makes this interesting is that—in a probable first for a literary anthology—there were no genre barriers.

Another interesting point is that veteran editors Sarge Lacuesta and Dean Francis Alfar decided to focus on younger writers, whom they define as being under 45.

Alfar told GMA News Online, “We assume that the older writers have more opportunities and are most likely already well-known and published. It was important for us to help create space for the next generation.”

Even more remarkable was that each author would be paid for their contributions. Alfar said that it was because “we believe in the value of a well-written story and in the effort it takes to produce one.”

Indeed, it was the craft of fiction that ruled the day when these two writers compiled Maximum Volume. Both have edited anthologies in the past—Alfar is most notable for helping start the Philippine Speculative Fiction series and Lacuesta has worked on, among others, the Fourteen Love Stories anthology (with the Palanca Award-winning writer Jose “Butch” Dalisay).

Alfar explained how this worked out for Maximum Volume in terms of how they selected the stories: “Sarge and I trust each other’s poetics because while we may prefer different types of stories, we overlap on the most important points—that the story must be well-written, which means attention must be paid to language, character, structure, and other things.”

Originally, a dozen stories were to be chosen, but the editors were quite pleased with the quality of the submissions they received that they made it a baker’s dozen. The list of authors may be familiar to anyone following the local literary scene over the past few years. Some have been anthologized pretty often; for others, this is perhaps their first time to be included in such a volume.

The anthology features experimental fiction, dramatic realism, a bit of fantasy, and yes, a Jollibee mascot, as one of the editors’ prefaces notes. There is a re-telling of a myth of the turtle god of the Aetas, and a struggle over arcane adobo recipes. Thirteen stories may not be a lot, but these are stories that require time to read, and re-read, and in short doses.

The editors are already accepting submissions for the 2015 anthology while continuing to promote the current anthology in different formats beyond print. It is still up in the air whether or not they will meet or exceed the 170 submissions they got last year.

But so far, the two editors seemed pretty positive about the state of Philippine literature when asked how they felt about it.

Alfar said, “In the hands of the younger generation, Philippine literature is experiencing a happy time of growth as more people are telling stories in different ways. There are those who luxuriate in language, and those who plumb the depths of inner lives of their characters. There are those who unleash their imagination and explore alternate history, and those who open the floodgates into fantasy.  And there are those who tell the painful stories of love and loss and memory.”

However, Lacuesta had this addendum, “Writers are writing—they always will—but I think they're not writing enough. Those who do write are certainly not read enough.” — VC, GMA News


Maximum Volume is currently available at Powerbooks and most local booksellers.