Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Coming in January




Click on the PLAY button to stream teaser for Episode 7.
Listen to the full story on January 1st, 2011, Manila Time.
 

Music credits: "Unaswered Questions" performed by Kevin Macleod

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Episde 6 Double Issue: "TWILIGHT OF THE MAGI" by Dominique Cimafranca, and "GOD IS THE SPACE BETWEEN" by Maryanne Moll

Christmas is a'coming! Here at Pakinggan Pilipinas, we'd like to celebrate the season by giving you, not just one, but two! stories to enjoy! Both are from the little fiction magazine that could, Philippine Genre Stories, published by Kenneth Yu.

Our first story is Dominique Cimafranca's "Twilight of the Magi", which was published in Philippine Genre Stories (2007). Two narrators teamed up to bring life to this piece -- and we have Zack Bulatao and Epok Claravall, both from Creativoices Productions, to be thankful for.
 The second story is from the forthcoming PGS Crime Issue, guest-edited by F.H. Batacan. It's called "God is the Space Between", and is written by Maryanne Moll. Dulce Amor Fortunado narrates the character's harrowing ordeal.



LINK to FULL DOUBLE EPISODE 
Total Running Time: Part 1 at 27m 57s, Part 2 at 18m 25s


I wish you all a Merry Christmas!

E :-)

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Coming in December: The Double Issue

Christmas & Crime: Two stories for December















Click on the PLAY buttons to stream teasers for the Episode 6 Double Issue.
Listen to the full story on December 1st, 2010, Manila Time.
 
EDIT: Due to some technical difficulties, the podcast will be available only
by 12 noon today, December 1, MNL Time.
 


All music performed by Kevin Macleod

Monday, November 1, 2010

Episode 5: SELF WITH DOG, 1997 by Angelo R. Lacuesta

This month's feature is "Self with Dog, 1997” by Angelo R. Lacuesta, a.k.a. Sarge Lacuesta. An earlier version of the story appeared in the Philippine Graphic, and was later included in Sarge’s collection “White Elephants, Stories”, published by Anvil. The story has been narrated for us by Edward Quilo.   



LINK to FULL EPISODE
Running Time: 31m 0s
Additional Music Credit: J. Bach's "Prelude in - BWV 846" performed by Kevin Macleod
Press PLAY to stream full episode.


Art Credit: "A Solitary Temple Amid Clearing Peaks" by Li Cheng. Taken from here.


By the way, you may need the visual aid above to accompany the two-minute introduction.

I'll be posting the full version of Sarge's thoughts on the story on our FACEBOOK PAGE (Pakinggan Pilipinas) in a couple of days. Didn't want to put up spoilers just yet. ;-)

And do come back in December for our special Double Issue -- two stories in one episode!

E

Monday, October 25, 2010

Coming in November




Click on the PLAY button to stream teaser for Episode 5.
Listen to the full story on November 1st, 2010, Manila Time.
 

 
 
Music credits: Waltz (Tschikovsky  Op. 40) performed by Kevin Macleod
 
 

Friday, October 1, 2010

Episode 4: THE BRIDGE (Abridged Version) by Yvette Tan

This month’s story is Yvette Tan’s The Bridge, narrated by the inimitable Nikki Alfar .The story first saw print in Story Philippines (2009) and was later anthologized in A Time for Dragons (Anvil, 2009). It also appeared in Waking the Dead (Anvil 2009), Yvette’s own collection of stories. “The Bridge” also won a prize in the 2nd Philippine/Graphic Fiction Awards sponsored by Fully Booked.


The story has been abridged (with Yvette’s permission, of course) for this podcast. The whole episode is still about 28 minutes long, but I tell you, time’s going to fly by without you noticing it.


Running Time: 28m 39s
Press PLAY to stream full episode.
Download the full story for Free! Right-click on link, then choose “Save Target As.”

Nikki would also like to remind you of the pending Philippine Speculative Fiction Volume 6: Open Call for Stories deadline, which is on November 15, 2010. Go write and submit a great story. Details here.


PAKINGGAN PILIPINAS is now social!
Look up the PAKINGGAN PILIPINAS's Facebook Page and click the LIKE button to get updates and back stories on the monthly episodes. We also got a Twitter account (http://twitter.com/pakingganpinas) to keep you Twitter-folks in the loop.


To continue supporting Pakinggan, tell your family, friends, enemies, and frenemies about our monthly Filipino fiction podcasts by recommending our Twitter or Facebook page. Want to help through other ways? Click here.


Don’t forget -- we’re still taking story requests until November 1. For details, you can look up last month’s episode.


E

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Coming in October




Click on the PLAY button to stream teaser for Episode 4.
Listen to the full story on October 1st, 2010, Manila Time.
 

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Episode 3: THE SPARROWS OF CLIMACO AVENUE by Kenneth Yu

We’re featuring The Sparrows of Climaco Avenue , written by Kenneth Yu and narrated by Fides Bernardo, in remembrance of the Ondoy tragedy. This first appeared in Rocket Kapre’s Ruin and Resolve, a charity anthology, put together by Paolo Chikiamco, then reprinted in Philippine Speculative Fiction 5, edited by Nikki Alfar and Vin Simbulan.


There’s still some work to be done to completely rehabilitate victims of last year’s mega typhoons. If you want to help the Philippine National Red Cross, do log on HERE. Rocket Kapre also donates to the PNRC when you purchase their e-book Ruin and Resolve.


Running Time: 14m 27s
Press PLAY to stream full episode.
Download the full story for Free! Right-click on link, then choose “Save Target As.”

I’m also announcing that I’ll be accepting story requests. (Yay!) Just email me at PakingganPilipinas@gmail.com : send me the title and author of the story. Some guidelines though:
(1) Story must already be published online or in print. If it’s online, send me the link. If not, send me the name of the publication. If it’s from a magazine, let me know which issue.
(2) Author of story must be of Filipino descent.
(3) Must be a short story with 1,500 words to 4,000 words
(4) Story can either be in English or Filipino.
(5) Deadline for the 1st Quarter 2011 requests will be on November 1, 2010.


Do spread the word!


E

Monday, August 23, 2010

Coming in September




Click on the PLAY button to stream teaser for Episode 3.
Listen to the full story on September 1st, 2010, Manila Time.
 

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Episode 2: GHOST BETWEEN MOMENTS by Kate Aton-Osias

Welcome back to PAKINGGAN PILIPINAS!


This month we’re featuring Ghost Between Moments by Kate Aton-Osias. The story appeared in the fiction webzine Bewildering Stories, and was later on considered in the magazine’s Editor’s Choices.

I asked Kate what compelled her to write this story, and whether or not she believed in ghosts. She replied by saying … Well, I’ll let you know what she said at the end of the podcast.


Running Time: 14m 45s
Press PLAY to stream full episode.


This year, Kate will be co-editing Philippine Speculative Fiction Volume 6 with Nikki Alfar.
Got a story? Then submit! Click HERE to see details of their Open Call. Deadline is on November 15, 2010.

Liked this story? Pass it on! Go to our HOW TO HELP page and see how you can support PAKINGGAN PILIPINAS.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Coming in August




Click on the LINK to stream teaser for Episode 2.
Listen to the full story on August 1st, 2010, Manila Time.
 

Friday, July 16, 2010

POC features PAKINGGAN PILIPINAS

Hey! Our friends at the Philippine Online Chronicles have just featured PAKINGGAN PILIPINAS. Thanks to the prolific Paolo Chikiamco of POC's Pinoy Pop.

Read the full interview by clicking PART 1 and PART 2. And yeah, Pakinggan is probably the first regular podcast site dedicated to Filipino fiction. Wow!

By the way, if you happened to find your way here because of the POC article, welcome!
To get started, you can access our very first episode HERE, where we feature Dean Alfar's Six from Downtown.

Do visit us from time to time, and don't forget come back soon for a fresh new podcast by August 1.

E

Monday, July 5, 2010

PRI's The World podcast features Filipino author Miguel Syjuco

Some weeks back I picked up Miguel Syjuco's Ilustrado, and recently I discovered that a lot of Facebook friends are reading the same book.


Interestingly, PRI's The World interviewed Miguel Syjuco and his acclaimed work.

Get to hear the author himself here (downloadable MP3), as he describes, among other things, the challenge of his first novel, his writing influences, and how the Philippines and its nuances figure in the narrative.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Episode 1: SIX FROM DOWNTOWN by Dean Francis Alfar

Welcome to PAKINGGAN PILIPINAS!

This is our first official episode, and every month, we’ll feature fiction by Filipino authors, read to you by specially selected narrators.

We’re in for a treat this July, as we have Dean Francis Alfar’s Six from Downtown, read to us by Kate Aton-Osias and Blue Soon.


I asked the author what inspired him to write this story, and Dean tells us that he felt an acute longing for home while he was stranded by a storm in Dumaguete. He then decided to create an alternate Manila where “the strange was commonplace.”

This piece first saw print in Philippines Free Press (2006), then reappeared in Philippine Speculative Fiction Vol. 2 (2006, Kestrel), Dean’s collection Kite of Stars and Other Stories (2007, Anvil), as well as online in the Philippine Speculative Fiction Sampler. The piece won a prize in the 2007 Free Press Awards.

If you liked this episode of PAKINGGAN PILIPINAS, tell your friends about it by sending them a link to our site: http://www.pakingganpilipinas.blogspot.com/.

Keep the stories alive -- don’t forget to drop by our HOW TO HELP page.


E

Sunday, June 27, 2010

First Episode Premieres on July 1 MNL




Click on the LINK to stream preview for Episode 1.
Listen to the full story on July 1st, 2010, Manila Time.
 

Welcome to Pakinggan Pilipinas, a podcast site that will feature Filipino fiction every month.


If it's your first time here, well, it's the first time for most of us -- podcasting fiction may be nothing new in countries like the US and UK, (and you can google thousands of their downloadable audio), but here in the Philippines, we're practically at the frontier. And that's strange, at least to me, since this is a land where radio dramas are still a hit in most places. With iPods/mobile players made more accessible to everyone, it's a great opportunity to offer homegrown fiction in a new and refreshing way.

Let me set your expectations though -- this isn't going to be like radio drama where you have sound effects and music and a cast of a thousand talented voices. Don't get me wrong -- I have a soft spot for radio drama, but for this site, the star of the show is going to be the story itself, where words, ideas, characters, nuances, plot, setting, all propel the narrative forward. I used to think this kind of format was going to bore me out of my mind, but guess what? I found the experience almost the same as reading, because I was free to imagine and feel based on my interpretation of the text. And I say almost, because narrators are there to tell you the story, much like how your parents did when you were off to bed as a child, or now with your friends, when you have kwentuhan sessions over dinner.

So, that's all there is to it. Don't forget to visit us again on July 1st for our Premiere Episode, featuring Six from Downtown by Dean Francis Alfar.


E