Episode 7: KEEPING TIME by FH Batacan

For the year's first podcast, we're featuring "Keeping Time" by FH Batacan, with narration by fictionist Alex Osias. The story first appeared in the Philippines Free Press (2007), and then was reprinted in Philippine Speculative Fiction Volume 3 (edited by Dean and Nikki Alfar; Kestrel), and the online e-book 2009 Best of Philippine Speculative Fiction edited by Charles Tan. In 2008, “Keeping Time” won first prize in Free Press Literary Awards, short story category. The story will be translated into German, and soon printed in the German science fiction magazine, Nova.

Link to FULL EPISODE
Running Time: 36m 17s
Additional Music Credit: "Unaswered Questions" performed by Kevin Macleod

Press play to stream full episode.

[EDIT: "Keeping Time" appears in the Philipine Speculative Fiction Sampler edited by Charles Tan and Mia Tijam, not in the 2009 Best of Philippine Speculative Fiction, also edited by Charles Tan. Apologies for the error... although if you've gone to the latter link, no harm in reading the stories there. They're pretty good. :-) Thanks to Eliza Victoria for pointing this out.  ]

2010 had been a great year. We've produced seven great stories, have featured nine voices, have reached out to a lot of new listeners to Filipino fiction podcasts.

Now, it's the first day of the year: 1.1.11. What could be more symbolic for beginnings than a row of ones?

Maybe this will be the year we'll feature stories in Filipino? Or celebrities doing narration? Or we get 500 million fans on facebook? Who knows? (Which reminds me, do LIKE our facebook page: Pakinggan Pilipinas. We'll be putting up the author's inspiration for the story.)

I am hopeful and positive. Anything is possible.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: FH Batacan is a journalist based in Singapore. Her stories have appeared in various local and foreign magazines. Her first novel, “Smaller and Smaller Circles” (UP Press 2002), was received with much acclaim, and went on to win the Palanca Grand Prize Novel in English and the Manila Critics Circle National Book Award.

ABOUT THE READER: Computer whiz and fictionist Alexander M. Osias has an uncanny ability to detect even the slightest noise at recording, be it doors closing, drills drilling, or a rooster crowing from some kilometers away. He is married to writer/editor Kate Aton-Osias. They have, as of this writing, one son.