Writers & Readers

NOTE from the Site Owner: At one point while I was updating this page, something went terribly wrong, and now some of the writers and readers featured here had gone (gulp) missing.  My apologies to the volunteers whose descriptions had been erased. I will try to have this fixed soon. --- Elyss

Featured Writers




Multi-awarded Dean Francis Alfar is a fictionist, playwright, businessman, husband, and father based in Manila. He is series editor of the annual anthology Philippine Speculative Fiction, a collection of some of the country’s best and freshest voices in fantasy, horror, science fiction, and the in-betweens. The latest, PSF Volume 5, edited by Nikki Alfar and Vincent Simbulan, was released last April 2010.


Aside from being an auditor, Kate Aton-Osias is a Manila-based fiction writer whose work can be found in Philippine Speculative Fiction Vol. 2 and 5, Philippine Genre Stories, A Time for Dragons, and in the online fiction site Serendipity . Kate’s fiction has been honorably cited in The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror for “The River Stone Heart of Maria Dela Rosa,” and has been twice awarded by the Palancas in the category Short Stories for Children. Kate has also read for us Dean Alfar's "Six from Downtown" in Episode 1. She is wife to fellow fiction writer Alex Osias, and mother to one-year old Hector.

Tennis-addict Kenneth Yu is a Manila-based fictionist, and editor and publisher of the magazine, Philippine Genre Stories, which features fantasy, sci-fi, and crime stories. His fiction pieces have seen print in local publications, as well as international webzines like AlienSkin and The Town Drunk. His story "Cherry Clubbing" won third place in the 3rd Philippine Graphic/Fiction Awards. Kyu’s upcoming work will appear in an anthology by Innsmouth Free Press (“The Music of SeƱor Lorenzo”), and in D.O.A. (“Cherry Clubbing”, Blood Bound books). The PGS Crime Issue, Kyu promises, will be released before the end of 2010.

Food lover and blogger Yvette Tan is a Manila-based fiction writer known for horror stories. Her work has been published in The Philippines Free Press, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the Manila Times, Uno magazine, Rogue magazine, Story Philippines and Philippine Genre Stories, among others. Her stories have also won awards in the Palanca, Philippine Graphic/Fiction Awards, and honorable mentions in the Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror. Her first collection of short stories, Waking the Dead was published in 2009.  Yvette will have a comic story come out soon in a magazine. She’s also currently working on new fiction and a second book.

Angelo R. Lacuesta has won Palanca, Philippine Graphic and NVM Gonzalez awards for his short stories. His first book, Life Before X and Other Stories (University of the Philippines Press), won the Madrigal-Gonzalez Best First Book Award and the National Book Award in 2000. His second book, White Elephants: stories (Anvil Publishing), won the National Book Award in 2005. Sarge's latest collection, Flames and Other Stories (Anvil Publishing) was published last 2009. A longer work is forthcoming in 2011.

In a previous lifetime, Dominique Gerald Cimafranca worked as an IT consultant for a multinational corporation.  Now he teaches Computer Studies and Humanities at Ateneo de Davao University.  Dom is also incoming Vice President of the Davao Writers Guild, and co-edits the weekly literary publication DAGMAY while running its online counterpart.  He edited and produced two books late last year, and another two books are due out early next year.


Maryanne Moll was formerly a bank clerk, fast food chain manager, radio DJ, and school instructor before settling down to write essays and fiction pieces. She has won a Palanca for her short story, "At Merienda," and has done freelance writing and editing for several publications. She is finishing her MA in UP, and is at work on her first collection of short stories. 

Readers
Blue Soon, a doctor based in Manila, likes eating vegetables, joining radio contests, and hunting for bargains in ukay-ukay and book stores.



Fides Bernardo is a professional voice talent who gets excited with small but excellent restaurants. She is often cast as a young, upbeat mother in voice over projects, but we think she probably wouldn’t mind being tapped as a chic woman in power.


Isaac Varon G. Bulatao, also known as “Zack” to his friends, is a voice actor, actor, and events host. Currently he works at Creativoices Productions, and is President of the Society of Young Voice Artists of the Philippines (SYVAP).  Zack used to like eating rice topped with crushed chicharon, but has since stopped after discovering healthier food alternatives. 


Joseph Paulo “Epok” Claravall is a performer at heart. He loves being on stage doing what he does best, hosting events and doing improvisational comedy with his friend Zack. Once he cosplayed as the Mark Hamill version of The Joker. He is also part of Creativoices Productions. 


Dulce Amor Fortunado is a voice actor, a wedding events host, and also works for the DFA.  She is sometimes seen singing while playing the guitar.