“Vida Cruz” – The Infinite Library and Other Stories

“Outside the Western Anglophone Hegemony” Connecting Flights panel at the SFWA’s Nebula Awards’ Conference

October 3, 2022 Victor Fernando R. OcampoLeave a comment

Please join us online at our “Outside the Western Anglophone Hegemony” Connecting Flights panel at the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association’s Nebula Awards Conference this coming Oct. 8, at 6:00am Pacific | 3:00pm Norway | 6:30pm India | 9:00pm Singapore and the Philippines, with Samit Basu, Lavanya Lakshminarayan, Vida Cruz Borja, myself, and and moderator Regina Kanyu Wang.
We’ll talk about our experiences as Asian writers who publish in the English language and in US markets. We’ll also compare our writing craft, share tropes and traditions, and celebrate our very varied influences. Looking forward to having you all along for a fun ride.

**The SFWA Blurb**:

The SFWA Events Team is excited to announce our new Connecting Flights panels to serve as a bridge between the 2022 Nebula Conference Online voyage and the 2023 Nebula Hybrid Conference! Our first Connecting Flight is “Outside the Western Anglophone Hegemony: A Conversation on Writing by Asian Writers” on October 8, 2022 @ 6:00am Pacific | 3:00pm Norway | 6:30pm India | 9:00pm Singapore.

Join us as we highlight the experiences of Asian writers who publish in the English language and US markets. Asian writers from across the globe will compare their craft, share tropes and traditions, and celebrate their influences. This panel will be moderated by Regina Kanyu Wang and feature Victor Fernando R. Ocampo, Vida Cruz, Lavanya Lakshminarayan, and Samit Basu.

Connecting Flight live panels will provide more of the fantastic craft and professional development content for which the Nebula Conference is known. If you already have a 2022 conference registration, you’ll be able to tune in live for this panel or watch it later in our archive. If you do not, we have good news! We have dropped the price to $75 for the remainder of our 2022 Nebula Conference Online voyage. Register here: events.sfwa.org

Registration includes our archive of nearly 50 recorded panels from the May 2022 conference weekend, invitations to join the live tapings of Narrative Worlds when they resume late fall, attendance to our Weekly Writing Dates for nonmembers (they are free for SFWA members), and special professional development and networking events throughout the year, such as this first Connecting Flight. Registrations are valid through April 2023.

If you have any questions, please ask us at events@sfwa.org. Don’t miss this Connecting Flight aboard the Airship Nebula on October

Boskone 59: My first con for 2022

February 18, 2022February 21, 2022 Victor Fernando R. OcampoLeave a comment

Update: Thank you to everyone that came or tuned in to my panels and my reading session! I miss attending cons so much. I hope it was as exciting and informative for you as it was for me. Thank you also (and a big virtual hug) to all those who said that they would look for my book “The Infinite Library and Other Stories.“ In North America the book is available from Available from Bookshop.org , Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and other selected bookstores. The 10- volume LONTAR, The Journal of Southeast Asian Speculative Fiction is available from the Epigram book shop.

Come and join me for my first speaking engagement this year. I will be a virtual (remote) panelist and reader at Boskone 59, New England’s oldest annual science fiction convention, an event entirely organized and run by amazing fan volunteers from the New England Science Fiction Association (NESFA). More info here.

My Schedule

VIRTUAL: Speculative Fiction from Multilingual Authors Format: Panel
18 Feb 2022, Friday 20:00 – 20:50, Westin Marina III (19 February 09:00AM Singapore time)

Instead of having their stories translated, some non-English authors have chosen to write directly in English. Their personal experiences and the many challenges they face are not well known to the international community, in general, as well as to fandom, in particular. This panel will uncover some of those experiences to provide a better understanding of their work.

With: Jana Bianchi , Vida Cruz, Cristina Jurado, Julia Rios , and Victor Fernando R. Ocampo

VIRTUAL: Brick by Brick: Worldbuilding Future Cities Format: Panel
19 Feb 2022, Saturday 18:00 – 18:50, Westin Marina III (20 February 07:00AM Singapore time)

It takes centuries to build a city; SF authors have less time. How do you write compelling futuristic cityscapes that feel real? Let’s consider how to give your Trantor or Diaspar, Gethen or Blackfish City, Enlivened Cincinnati or Teixcalaan or Silicon Isle new technologies and old buildings; sights, sounds, and smells; history, culture, and peoples. (Plus sanitation.) How much detail do you need? How much can you get away with making up?

With: Kelly Robson, Carrie Vaughn, Michael M. Jones, Victor Fernando R. Ocampo, and Larry Niven

VIRTUAL: Group Reading: Johnson, Martine, Ocampo Format: Reading
19 Feb 2022, Saturday 20:00 – 20:50, Westin Marina III (20 February 09:00AM Singapore time)

With: Les Johnson, Arkady Martine, and Victor Fernando R. Ocampo

See you there!

Mapping New Stars: A Sourcebook on Philippine Speculative Fiction: Update

February 7, 2022February 7, 2022 Victor Fernando R. OcampoLeave a comment

It’s finally finished! So proud to be part of this seminal work on PH Spec Fic – “Mapping New Stars: A Sourcebook on Philippine Speculative Fiction,” edited by Gabriela Lee and Anna Sanchez . Thanks for inviting me to be a part of this!

I spent the first half of 2021 working on this massive project and my poor editors had to edit out so much material. Please watch out for the launch later this year or sometime in early 2023.

Congratulations to all my fellow TOC mates!

My chapter on “The Roots of Speculative Fiction in the Philippines” grew from my initial stab at documenting the early days of local Science Fiction. This time, I attempt to identify the oldest known Filipino works of Fantasy, Horror, and of course, Science Fiction.

As a teaser, I shall be posting an updated and super-remixed version of the section on Philippine Science Fiction here on my blog very soon (Likely after my upcoming eye surgery).

The beautiful cover below is by Hans Dimapilis

Check out the amazing , powerhouse TOC:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Introduction: A Beginner’s Guide to Cartography

A Brief Visual Timeline of Developments in Philippine Speculative Fiction

“Waiting for Victory: Towards a Philippine Speculative Fiction” by Anna Felicia Sanchez

Reading Philippine Speculative Fiction

“The Speculative Impulse” by Michaela Atienza

“Sapantaha: Isang Tangkang Depinisyon” by Luna Sicat Cleto

“Ang Kagila-gilalas na Haka kay Mariang Makiling Bilang Bukal ng Paglikha” by Edgar Calabia Samar

“The Roots of Speculative Fiction in the Philippines” by Victor Fernando R. Ocampo

“Tracing the Trajectory of Children’s Speculative Fiction in the Philippines” by Gabriela Lee

“Free and Open Spaces: Komiks and Speculative Fiction” by Francis Paolo M. Quina

“Philippine Speculative Fiction on the International Stage” by Charles Tan

Writing Philippine Speculative Fiction

“Where Do Stories Begin?” by Vida Cruz

“Choosing Your Genre: The Novel or the Short Story?” by Eliza Victoria

“Building Worlds” by Dean Francis Alfar

“Character Creation, or How to Get Away with Murderers” by Nikki Alfar

“Planning the Narrative Journey” by Isabel Yap

“Setting Up a Magic System” by Christine V. Lao

“First World Dreams, Third World Realities” by Emil Francis M. Flores

“Considering Speculative Poetry” by Kristine Ong Muslim

“Publishing Like a Pro” by Nicasio Reed

Works Cited

End Notes

Future Currents: Philippines and Singapore

November 27, 2020November 30, 2020 Victor Fernando R. OcampoLeave a comment

UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who watched us last night! If you missed our panel you can still catch it on YouTube here.

This coming Sunday, the 29th of November, 2020, please join Eliza Victoria, Isabel Yap, Vida Cruz and I as we talk about Speculative Fiction from the Philippines and Singapore (okay, it’s essentially mostly me for the latter) at Future Currents: Philippines and Singapore.

Language: English

Panelists:

Eliza Victoria (Philippines) – Eliza Victoria is the author of several books including the Philippine National Book Award-winning Dwellers (2014), the novel Wounded Little Gods (2016), the graphic novel After Lambana (2016, a collaboration with Mervin Malonzo), and the science fiction novel-in-stories, Nightfall (2018). Her fiction and poetry have appeared in several online and print publications, most recently in LONTAR: The Journal of Southeast Asian Speculative Fiction, The Best Asian Speculative Fiction, The Apex Book of World SF Volume 5, and Future SF Digest. Her work has won prizes in the Philippines’ top literary awards, including the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature. Her one-act plays (written in Filipino) have been staged at the Virgin LabFest at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

Isabel Yap (Philippines) – Isabel Yap writes fiction and poetry, works in the tech industry, and drinks tea. Born and raised in Manila, she has also lived in California and London. She holds a BS in Marketing from Santa Clara University, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. In 2013 she attended the Clarion Writers Workshop, and since 2016 has served as Secretary for the Clarion Foundation. Her work has appeared in venues including Tor.com, Lightspeed, Strange Horizons, and Year’s Best Weird Fiction. Herdebut short story collection will be published by Small Beer Press in 2021. She is@visyap on Twitter and her website ishttps://isabelyap.com.

Vida Cruz (Philippines) – Vida Cruz’s fiction has been published or is forthcoming from Strange Horizons, PodCastle, Expanded Horizons, and various anthologies, as well as been longlisted for the British Science Fiction Award. A Clarion graduate and a Tiptree/Otherwise Fellow, she is also a book editor with The Darling Axe.

She lives in Manila with her family and 10 memeable dogs.

Victor Fernando R. Ocampo (Singapore/Philippines) – Victor Fernando R. Ocampo is the author of the International Rubery Book Award shortlisted The Infinite Library and Other Stories (Math Paper Press, 2017) and Here be Dragons (Canvas Press, 2015), which won the Romeo Forbes Children’s Story Award in 2012. His play-by-email interactive fiction piece “The Book of Red Shadows” debuted at the Singapore Writers Festival in 2020.

His writing has appeared in many publications including Apex Magazine, Daily Science Fiction, Likhaan Journal, Strange Horizons, Philippines Graphic, Science Fiction World and The Quarterly Literature Review of Singapore, as well as anthologies like The Best New Singapore Short Stories, Fish Eats Lion: New Singaporean Speculative Fiction, LONTAR: The Journal of Southeast Asian Speculative Fiction, Maximum Volume: Best New Philippine Fiction, and the Philippine Speculative Fiction series.

He is a fellow at the Milford Science Fiction Writers’ Conference (UK) and a Jalan Besar writer-in-residence at Sing Lit Station (2020/2021).

Visit his blog at vrocampo.com or follow him on Twitter @VictorOcampo

My Panels at FIYAHCON’s Fringe Programming

October 16, 2020 Victor Fernando R. OcampoLeave a comment

FIYAHCON is a virtual convention centering the perspectives and celebrating the contributions of BIPOC in speculative fiction. Hosted by FIYAH Literary Magazine. The inaugural event will take place on October 17-18, 2020 and will host a variety of entertaining and educational content surrounding the business, craft, and community of speculative literature.

Where the magazine is focused specifically on the elevation of Black voices in short speculative fiction, FIYAHCON seeks to center the perspectives and experiences of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color).

Thank you to FIYACON, Vida Cruz and Iora Kusano for inviting me to be both a panelist and a moderator. Join us! All the Fringe events are free! You can find my schedule below:

Running A Genre Magazine – Friday 10/16 10:00pm EDT (which will be Saturday 10am in Singapore) with Eliana González Ugarte • Terrie Hashimoto • Salik Shah • Victor Fernando R. Ocampo (Moderator)

To many writers, the inner workings of magazines are utterly opaque. Our panel of editors can give you insight into what things look like on their side of the desk: financial legal considerations, unexpected challenges, how to best promote authors’ work. This panel is great for any author who wants to see how a magazine is made, especially if they’re considering starting a magazine of their own!

Should I Italicize That? – Friday 10/16 02:00am EDT (which will be Saturday 02:00pm in Singapore) with Shiv Ramdas • Zen Cho • Victor Fernando R. Ocampo • Yukimi Ogawa • Iori Kusano (Moderator)

It’s the eternal struggle: why do we italicize takoyaki but not taco? What counts as a loanword? Do italics highlight distinctive aspects of cultures settings, or do they exoticize it? Should we italicize anything at all? Panelists will share how they approach this problem within their own work, including how to discuss it with editors agents.

LONTAR Volume 10: Saying Goodbye To A Southeast Asian Institution

October 20, 2018October 20, 2018 Victor Fernando R. OcampoLeave a comment

The first volume of LONTAR: The Journal of Southeast Asian Speculative Fiction came out in 2013. Named after “Lontar” (“Rontal” in Filipino), an Indonesian word for a bound palm-leaf manuscript from the fifth century BCE , it was meant to showcase Speculative Fiction writing in its myriad forms from all across Southeast Asia.

I was too late to contribute to its maiden issue, but my story “Entanglement” appeared in Volume 2. Two further works “Brother to Space, Sister to Time” and “Father is the Blood, Mother is the Wine” appeared in Volumes 6 and 9 respectively. Both ended up as the cover stories.

It’s really sad to see LONTAR go. There really isn’t any publication of it’s scope and breadth focused exclusively on Southeast Asia anywhere in the world.

It’s tenth and final issue is double-sized wonder featuring work by Dean Alfar, Vida Cruz, Drewscape, Joses Ho, Patricia Karuningan, Gabriela Lee, Manish Melwani, Wayne Ree, Lakan Umali, Eliza Victoria, Topaz Winters, Cyril Wong, Kevin Martens Wong, and many others. Founding Editor Jason Erik Lundberg wanted to include the artwork made by award-winning artist Sonny Liew for the my book The Infinite Library and Other Stories. I wrote a flash fiction piece called “To See Infinity In The Pages Of A Book” to accompany it.

Thank you to Jason, Poetry Editor Kristine Ong Muslim, Comics Editor Adan Jimenez, and publishers Epigram and Math Paper Press (Volumes 1 and 2) for all the hard work.

Let’s hope it won’t be too long before another publication picks up LONTAR’s legacy.

LONTAR-10-CVF-300

Writers in Manila

June 10, 2015June 10, 2015 Victor Fernando R. OcampoLeave a comment

Not quite the best pictures, but it was great to see old and new writer friends in Manila – Dean Alfar, Vida Cruz and Mia SN. Interestingly, Vida and I were in the TOC for Philippine Science Fiction Vol. 9, which was founded by Dean and his better half, Nikki. Mia is a very talented young artist/writer based in Australia.