Author: christina

  • Researching the Chavacano Story

    Researching the Chavacano Story

    The Yakan are one of several distinct ethnic groups living in Zamboanga City, though originally from Basilan. They are known for their complicated patterns, their weaving being among the most intricate and difficult to create in the Philippines. Below is a Yakan backstrap loom, housed at the National Museum of…

  • Waray Poetry: Voltaire Oyzon reads “Gab-i” / “Night”

    Waray Poetry: Voltaire Oyzon reads “Gab-i” / “Night”

    For the second installment of Poetry Wednesdays, here’s Tacloban-based Waray poet Voltaire Oyzon, reading “Gab-i.”Voltaire is also one of the minds behind the Corpora Project, a database of texts in various languages. It’s purpose is to preserve language and provide structural analysis that can be used to classify texts according…

  • Voicing the Tiniest Tik-Tik

    Voicing the Tiniest Tik-Tik

    Working on this passion project is not without its stumbling blocks. I often say it feels like I’m making it up as I go along. But it also has a serendipity to it, an energy it generates on its own.I came to Cebu City to record a voiceover for the…

  • Cebuano Poetry: Jeremiah Bondoc reads “sa menteryo sa carreta dihang nangutana ka og unsaon ang balak sa pagbasa”

    Welcome to Poetry Wednesdays on the Sari-Sari Storybooks blog.As I travel around the Philippines to work on this children’s book series, I’d like to share some of the poets I meet, writing in Cebuano, Waray, Meranao, Hiligaynon, Tagalog and other Philippine languages. I hope you’ll enjoy hearing the multiplicity of…

  • The Siliman Writers’ Workshop

    The Siliman Writers’ Workshop

    The Siliman Writers’ Workshop is the oldest of it’s kind in Asia. Every year it attracts a new batch of writers. They spend 3 weeks discussing their work with established writers in Dumaguete, at a mountain retreat. As coincidence would have it, one of the workshop fellows this year is…

  • Meet Me in Manila

    Meet Me in Manila

    This is a thrill. I’ve been invited to speak about Sari-Sari Storybooks at the June 8 Meetup for the Society of Children’s Book Writers + Illustrators, Manila chapter. I’ll talk about the project, it’s structure, and why I think it’s vital to support Filipino languages via children’s books. Alyssa Sarmiento,…