MGA MESA NG MGA MANUNULAT NA FILIPINO-PILIPINZ

Jos é  Rizal The sea, the sea is everything! Its sovereign mass brings to me atoms of a myriad faraway lands; its bright smile animates me in the limpid mornings; and when at the end of day my faith has proven futile, my heart echoes the sound of its sorrow on the sands.  […] So pass the days of my life in my obscure retreat;  cast out of the world where once I dwelt: such is my rare  good fortune; and Providence be praised for my condition:  a disregarded pebble that craves nothing but moss  to hide from all the treasure that in myself I bear.  I live with the remembrance of those that I have loved  and hear their names still spoken, who haunt my memory;  some already are dead, others have long forgotten—  but what does it matter? I live remembering the past  and no one can ever take the past away from me.           -from "My Retreat" by Jose Rizal, Trans. by Nick J...

This project is curated by Eileen R. Tabios. One of her favorite books is THE WRITER'S DESK edited by Jill Krementz which offers pictures of nearly 60 writers' desks. However, not a single Filipino writer is included in the book, a flaw that inspired Eileen to create this project. A writer across genres , Eileen's  desk is located in her kitchen so that she can be more available to her beloved dogs Ajax and Neo. If you are a Filipino-Pilipinz writer who would like to participate by sharing photos of your desk, contact Eileen at nalandaten at gmail dot com

LUIS H. FRANCIA shares, Thirteen Minus Ten Ways of Viewing My Desk Where I Entertain Words and They Entertain Me

SHEILA BARE shares, " Here’s a very messy desk. What do they say about the genius’ inhabiting messy workplaces? Ay, baka it’s just me saying it! " Click on image to enlarge.

ELIZABETH ESGUERRA CASTILLO says this is "my ' Silent Writing Sanctuary' where I do my handwritten drafts while my desktop is in our sala. " Click on image to enlarge.

BEVERLY PARAYNO shares, "The painting is done by a friend. The Loch Ness monster, which I got in Aberdeen, Scotland, reminds me to keep my imagination strong and to believe in things I can't see or touch.” Click on images to enlarge.

WILFRIDO D. NOLLEDO  (1943-2004) was a Filipino-American fictionist, playwright, essayist, and editor who was once referred to by Nick Joaquin, Philippine National Artist, as a "young magus" who turned the Philippine war experience into a poem, referring to But For the Lovers , the novel that brought Nolledo to the attention of publisher, E.B. Hutton. In 1965, he was a Fulbright scholar at Iowa Writers Workshop; from then on, he was at the University of Iowa on various scholarship grants and served as the literary editor of the Iowa Review. Nolledo led an enriching literary career, producing works that won prizes and awards. Among them were: the National Cultural Award for Drama from the City of Manila, National Award for Drama from the Writers’ Union of the Philippines, and the Roman Grand Prize for Novel. He also garnered a Great Filipino Achiever Award from the U.S.-Philippine Expo ’94 “for distinguished career in literary writing, for the pride he has bestowed on the...

LISA FACTORA-BORCHERS shares, " Here is my desk which is in my home office.  That giant blank post it note is for when I have a sudden brain storm and need to jot down fast ideas, draw a diagram, or just scribble a question related to my latest book project. " Click on image to enlarge.

AYO GUTIERREZ Click on images to enlarge.

MARIA BOLAÑOS shares, " I live in a pretty standard Los Angeles apartment -- built in the 1960's, 600 square feet, one bedroom, one bathroom. A table in my living room serves as the hub of the home, where my husband and I eat, practice art, play board games, etc. It also serves as my main writing desk. I enjoy the large work surface and the soft light in the morning. I like to write while facing my bookshelves; I feel it keeps me focused and motivated. "My secondary desk is a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle box on my lap, when I'm in bed. Writing in bed is tough on my posture and my sleep, but so far I haven't succeeded in breaking the habit." Maria  was born in Quezon City, Philippines, and studied writing at the University of California, Berkeley. I currently live in Los Angeles and work as a freelance copywriter.    Click on images to enlarge.

JOSE PADUA My Desk and Other Paths to an Understanding of Disconcerting Noises This is the desk where I now work. When we lived in a small town and had an entire hundred year old Victorian house to ourselves, we had an office with a desktop computer and a printer. Nevertheless, I ended up working on a laptop in the dining room with foot high piles of books to my right. I’d write late into the night, leaving the television on in the living room while listening to music. This was to ward off ghosts or any other sorts of creatures I didn’t wish to encounter anywhere but on the page. Now, the desk where I write is off to the side of our bedroom. I don’t have a television on or play music because I might wake up my wife or my young son who sleeps in the room with us. We’re back in the big city. Whereas in our small town the stray noises I might have heard were that of a freight train passing by to the east or our neighbors screaming at each other, in the big city I’ll usually just he...

NOELLE Q DE JESUS shares, "I'm the sort who writes anywhere--cafes, restaurants while dining alone, on park benches if the weather is fine and even on airplanes. At home, there is my desk which is always a mess, and I like to think of what I write as order from chaos. The desk faces the wall, but on my left, I can look out at Banaba trees and the connector running path in our neighborhood. Frequently, there are times when my desk is too disorderly for fiction, even for me. I am distracted by the other writing I do--copy, freelance, editing. That's when I relocate to my bed and put on some white noise to write. And write, I do." Painting by Namiko Takahashi Chan Lee

LINA ESPINA MOORE (from Ateneo Library of Women's Writings ) (from Goodreads ) Click on image to enlarge.

F. SIONIL JOSE (from StarGate PeopleAsia ) Click on image to enlarge.

CARLOS BULOSAN ( from   UW Special Collections ) Click on image to enlarge.

JUSTINE VILLANUEVA shares,  "I live with four kids and one adult, each with their own desk needs for their creative endeavors. Space is scarce so we share one paint splattered folding work desk. The gorgeous dining table, however, is my own... when it's not serving as our dining table. “Pag ayom-ayom!' we say in Bisaya. Make do. We also say, “Pag ayo-ayo!” Do good. With these desks, I make do and do good." Click on image to enlarge.

ERIC GAMALINDA shares, " My work space has to have books, art, music, a comfortable bed, and solitude whenever I need it. " Click on image to enlarge.

JOSE GARCIA VILLA lives forever in Poetry. About his participation in this project, he writes: Dear Eileen, I hope I’ve made it to the deadline. Yours sincerely, Doveglion Jose Garcia Villa, West Village, New York City, 1994 Photographed on Ektachrome.  Copyright 2020 Eric Gamalinda Click on image to enlarge.

IVY ALVAREZ shares, " I'm in the middle of moving into a studio apartment I'm renting — chaos reflected in the picture. " Click on image to enlarge.

VERONICA MONTES shares, "My desk is in a corner of the kitchen, hub of the house, and my favorite place." Click on image to enlarge.

CRISTINA QUERRER shares, " This is one of my desks that I work on to do my creative projects, whether it’s my podcast, applying for grants, working on new writing projects and keeping up with my creative tribe online. I have worked interchangeably between my laptop and desktop at home and have worked in makeshift desks wherever I can make space. I usually wake up early and enjoy surrounding myself with mantras and trinkets that give me inspiration. My writer’s desk is a representation of being a digital nomad in today’s world: telecommuting between the digital world and physical spaces that are still surrounded by books and wafting music." Click on image to enlarge.

REINE ARCACHE MELVIN , born and raised in Manila, now lives in Paris with her family. The author of  A Normal Life and Other Stories  and  The Betrayed: A Novel , she s hares, " I have a small desk in my bedroom, but I use that only for paperwork, bills and French bureaucracy. The real writing takes place in my living room — first on the couch, with the computer on a cushion on my lap, then at my dining table. When friends come, I open up the dining table and clear out the papers, but often it is my quiet place for writing. I like writing spaces that are not-desks — less pressure, less formality, less fear. The couch is where I dream: I stare out at the sky, and that's usually how ideas — words, images, scenes — come." From the couch, a view of the sky where the sun is beginning to come out. Click on images to enlarge.

GLYNDA VELASCO shares, " This is my desk and the view. My desk is really a dining room table, and the dining area is the busiest area in this house, which is a board and care. Because of this I can only write poetry on the fly. Hay(na)ku is perfect for this. " Click on images to enlarge.

CECILIA BRAINARD   shares, "My son set up my computer with two screens, which is really cool because I can write on one screen, and I can use the other for research or for checking my emails or social media. When I’m at my computer, my two cats are with me. They parade in front of the screens until they settle down. They like to lay on my lap, but sometimes it’s impossible for me to work, so they end up in the drawer and or one in the drawer and the other nearby. (The picture shows Che in the drawer and Tesla to the right.) Che and Tesla are my muses and have ushered me through a novel ( The Newspaper Widow ), a novella ( Melisande in Paris ), plus so many other literary projects. They are my muses. Bless them."

MELINDA LUISA DE JESUS shares, " Here's my desk--the cleanest it’s been in weeks!  😉  I do pretty much everything there related to teaching and writing.  I should have included a photo of my iPhoneXR too because I write poems on it when inspiration strikes and I’m on the go. I've also included images of my Line-o-scribe because I use it when I want to slow everything way down and really ponder words, space, shapes, typeface, and color as I create poems and word art. "

BARBARA JANE REYES shares, " This is my dinner table currently, as I'm preparing for the next couple of semesters of teaching Pinay and Filipinx Literature classes. On the laptop: Dawn Bohulano Mabalon, 'Writing Angeles Monrayo into the Pages of Pinay History.' In the stack of books, top to bottom: Lysley Tenorio, Monstress . Mia Alvar, In the Country . Randy Ribay, Patron Saint of Nothing . Grace Talusan, The Body Papers . Cinelle Barnes, Malaya: Essays in Freedom . Malaka Gharib, I Was Their American Dream . Monica Ong, Silent Anatomies . The little succulent plant is named Baby Yoda. And I also have an industrial strength commuter mug of Yogi ginger tea. " Click on images to enlarge.