Meet the Future of Philippine Literature

Today is World Diabetes Day and I was tempted to write today about my recent discovery that I have the disease, that my blood-sugar level has been shooting through the roof for God knows how long already. I was tempted, too, to ruminate about the significance of the testimony of Joc-joc Bolante in the Senate and the rise of Barack O'Binay, potentially the Philippines's first black president (so the text joke goes). But I decided that today is too good a day to ruin. So I'm writing instead about this bit of extremely good news: Miguel Syjuco, a 31-year-old Filipino author who is based in Canada (where he works as a copy editor at a newspaper), has just won this year's Man Asian Literary Prize. The two-year-old Man Asian Prize is given by the same people behind the Booker -- a fledgling literary award, to be sure, but undoubtedly Asia's most prestigious. The prize, which was given out yesterday in Hongkong, carried a $10,000 award. Syjuco, who also won the Palanca this year for the novel, was cited for his debut novel, Ilustrado. The judges said of Syjuco's work: "The shortlist for the Man Asian prize testifies to the great vitality of the novel in Asian societies undergoing hectic and unexpected transformations. In the end, we had to choose; and Ilustrado seems to us to possess formal ambition, linguistic inventiveness and sociopolitical insight in the most satisfying measure. Brilliantly conceived, and stylishly executed, it covers a large and tumultuous historical period with seemingly effortless skill. It is also ceaselessly entertaining, frequently raunchy, and effervescent with humour." Adrienne Clarkson, the chairman of the panel of judges, said the vote for Ilustrado was unanimous. “It is very ambitious in what it tried to do, and it succeeded,” she said, according to this report. “The book gathered fragments of reality, poetry and criticism and wove them into a family saga.” Aside from Syjuco, another Filipino, Alfred “Krip” Yuson, was also on the shortlist this year for his novel The Music Child. The other Asians in the list were Kavery Nambisan (The Story that Must Not be Told), Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi (The Lost Flamingoes of Bombay), and Yu Hua (Brothers). Last year, Jose “Butch” Dalisay, was shortlisted for Soledad's Sister. Most Filipinos may not know Syjuco and the fact that he was shortlisted at all may have stumped some local literary denizens, who sometimes have the tendency to think that the literary world revolves just around them. Here's a few stuff from Danton Remoto's blog, written after Syjuco won the Palanca: All his life, Miguel Syjuco has dreamt of winning a Palanca Award. And now, the Montreal, Canada-based expatriate Filipino writer has fulfilled his dream and won the much coveted grand prize in the competition's novel category. His entry was an intricately structured novel which he tried to finish for three years while working full-time as copy editor of Quebec's largest newspaper, The Montreal Gazette. In an interview before the Palanca awarding ceremonies, Syjuco, who flew in just three days before the Palanca Awards gala night, said, “I value my Palanca award very much. I believe that it is the most important prize I can ever win in the Philippines. I still can't believe it. It is such a pleasant surprise.” Syjuco spent many years studying literature and creative writing: earning a bachelor's degree in English literature from Ateneo and receiving a master's degree in creative writing from New York's Columbia University and soon a Ph.D. also in English literature from the University of Adelaide, Australia. He has worked in two of the most prestigious magazines in the world, The New Yorker and Esquire. Aside from being given the opportunity to study and work in prestigious institutions abroad, Syjuco considers himself lucky to have trained under New York-based Jessica Hagedorn (Dogeaters), perhaps the most popular contemporary Filipina author abroad, and, during his college years, under National Artist NVM Gonzalez. This guy is the future of Philippine literature. As Dalisay says in his blog, Syjuco (and the other Filipinos who've been shortlisted) “already helped put contemporary Filipino writing on the global literary map.” Carlos H. Conde is a journalist based in Manila.