The Infinite Library and Other Stories
by Victor Fernando R. Ocampo
I was surprised to learn that my book, The Infinite Library And Other Stories, was recently featured by the Centre for Strategic Futures on their Recommended Reads site on LinkedIn. The CSF is a think tank under the office of the Prime Minister of Singapore. Thank you so much to Ms Liana Tang, Deputy Head of CSF for her wonderful review!
It was the book birthday of The Infinite Library and Other Stories last 28 September. If you would like to get an advanced copy, it’s available at the independent bookstore BooksActually ahead of the launch at the Singapore Writers Festival (on Tuesday, November 7 from 8.30 pm – 9.30 pm at the Gallery II of The Arts House).
Trivia time: What else shares my book birthday?
In 2015 NASA scientists announce the discovery of flowing water on Mars.
In 2008 SpaceX launches the first ever private spacecraft, the Falcon 1 into orbit.
In 1987 “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” debuts on syndicated TV
In 1965 Taal Volcano explodes in Batangas, Philippines killing around 100 people
In 1928 Juan de la Cierva completes the first helicopter flight over the English Channel
In 1901 Filipino patriots defeat 48 members of the US 9th Infantry in Balangiga, Samar
In 1066 William the Conqueror invades England, landing at Pevensey Bay, Sussex
I never thought that I would ever get anything published.
As a kid in Manila all my stories were rejected simply because they were Science Fiction or Fantasy and publishers didn’t want them. The Filipinos that did read the “Literature of the Fantastic” preferred American or European authors due to a lingering colonial mentality and/or because nothing else was actually available. Save for Japanese cartoons, half-forgotten myths and the occasional meanderings of local realist writers into the surreal, there were no Fantasy, Horror or Science Fiction authors in the Philippines (at least none whose works were readily available). There were also no venues to read or to submit such stories.
I stopped writing for a very long time. Over the next few years I finished school, left the country and started a family. But I never stopped hoping I would find writers outside the Western mainstream, authors who would write Speculative Fiction with my voice, my experience and my point of view.
Then something magical happened early in the new millennium. Because of the efforts of people like Dean and Nikki Alfar, their Litcritters crew, Paolo Chikiamco, Joey Nacino, Rochita Loenen-Ruiz, Charles Tan, Eliza Victoria, Kenneth Yu and other pioneers, venues like the Philippine Speculative Fiction anthology series, Philippine Genre Stories and Story Philippines started to appear and somehow, in a way I had not expected, Fantastic stories in all of their strange and delicious flavors became accepted, became (comparatively) popular, and most importantly, became respected.
My wife sent one of my stories to Nikki Alfar and Kate Osias without my knowledge (cheeky girl but I love her so). To my great surprise it ended up in PSF volume 6 and I haven’t stopped writing (or submitting) since.
Later on, I discovered that this renaissance of sorts was also happening (with various degrees of success and acceptance) in many parts of the world outside the Western sphere of influence — including my adopted country of Singapore, where I was lucky enough to become part of Fish Eats Lion (Edited by Jason Erik Lundberg) arguably its first compilation of literary Speculative Fiction.
The Literature of the Fantastic in Southeast Asia is breaking out of the shadows and I am so happy to be part of to this evolving landscape. I hope you like my stories (particularly the Science Fiction ones) and I would really love it if you dropped me a line at the comments box below or at vrocampo (at) gmail [dot] com.
Thank you!
Artwork above by Jon Jaylo from the book “Here be Dragons”
The Infinite Library and Other Stories 