The past year or so has seen more and more Filipino writers catch the attention of the international reading audience.

In 2008, Miguel Syjuco became the first Filipino to win the Man Asian Literary Prize, Asia’s equivalent of the Booker Prize, for his novel “Ilustrado.”

Nominated alongside him was writer Alfred A. Yuson, nominated for this work “The Music Child”.

Before that, it was Butch Dalisay’s “Soledad’s Sister” that made the shortlist of the inaugural edition of the Man Asian Literary Prize.

More recently, acclaimed poet Gemino Abad was awarded Italy’s most coveted literary prize Premio Feronia for his collection of poems called “In Ordinary Time”.

Previous winners of the prize include Nobel Prize winners Günter Grass and John M. Coetzee.

All of this international attention being directed at the local writing scene was the main focus of “Global Pinoy Writers,” a forum organized by the National Book Development Board (NBDB) as part of the Philippine Book Development Month celebrations.

Prize winners Syjuco, Yuson, Dalisay, and Abad took part in the discussion held last Tuesday, sharing how winning the prize has changed -- or not -- their lives, and how all of this attention
can be utilized for the good of other Filipino writers in the country.

“We at the NBDB feel that their writing achievement has made people here and people all over the world want to read Pinoy. We want to know if it is possible to describe how to seriously write your way to fame, if not fortune. The NBDB wants this forum to encourage

more and more to read, not just all over the world, but especially here in our country,” says Andrea Pasion-Flores, NBDB executive director.

LIFE BEFORE THE ‘PRIZE’

Before winning the prize, Syjuco had to resort to creative ways to earn money.

“I had to do everything that I could to pay off my massive credit card debt. I was even a test subject for $150. They were using an infrared camera to see if it could help with erectile dysfunction,” he recalls with a laugh. “They had me on a gurney, stripped from the waist down, and the camera pointed at my genitals. I just had to keep thinking $150, $150. And the thing is to test if it would work, they had me wear these goggles on and they made me watch two nature films, a pornographic film, and another nature film. That was what I was doing before I won the prize.”

Winning the Man Asian Literary Prize and the accompanying $10,000 cash prize certainly proved to be a life-changer. Syjuco is now signed to Farar, Straus, and Giroux, who has published authors like Pablo Neruda, Jeffrey Eugenides, and Philip Roth.

“I have had the fortune to find an agent and a publisher. I’ve been able to quit my job to really focus on revising the manuscript and making it the best that it could be. I think that’s a good point in my life,” he reveals.

Dalisay, who was on the shortlist for the 2006 Man Asian Literary Award, agrees. “You go everywhere, literally. Festival doors open to you. This is one thing that happens when you get your foot in, opportunities open up. I also got an agent after Soledad’s Sister.”

For Abad, the collateral has been a little more subdued.

“There are certain things that are nice about winning. Winning has resulted in me writing an advertisement campaign for coffee,” he says with a laugh. “What I had to do was write a three-page thing with my affair with coffee. I couldn’t ask for a price like Pacquiao, so what they offered, I accepted it.”

But if the four years Syjuco spent on “Ilustrado” is any indication, trekking the path to international acclaim is not an easy road to take. Aside from the usual challenges, Syjuco discovered that his countrymen weren’t always the best people to turn to when it came to asking for help.

“When I was writing I was disappointed that my Filipino friends didn’t want to read a work about the Philippines. I’ve had lots of Western and other nationalities helping me read the work in the four years I’ve been working on it, and no Filipinos, and I don’t know why that is,” he says. “I had some people say that they wanted to help me and revise it, but when I shared my work with them, I found out that they just wanted an advance copy and they shared it amongst their friends.”

The exposure to international publishing standards has also revealed the weaknesses inherent in our system here in the country.

“We really don’t have a pool of editors who work on manuscripts by authors. We will break bread with other writers and probably comment on others work, but nagkakahiyaan. There’s something to be said about professional editorial agencies, which we don’t have,” explains Yuson.

OPENING TO THE WORLD

Nevertheless, global recognition of Filipino writers bodes well for other Filipino writers. Dalisay, in particular, sees the opportunities that have opened up for him as something to be shared.

“This is now a personal mission to introduce other writers to people who might be able to show the rest of Philippine literature to the rest of the world. It’s such a rare opportunity for any of us to be heard outside of this place or this region,” he says. “I try to get others in. If they like my work, there’s a lot more back home.”

Yuson emphasizes Syjuco’s achievement in particular as instrumental in attracting more eyes to other Filipino authors.

“Sometimes it is forgotten that there are a legion of writers that are operating in a homegrown manner and who also deserve to be considered for publication. Miguel winning the Man Asian prize draws more attention to Filipino writing,” Yuson says. “Before that, editorial staffs and publishing houses have always been skewed in favor of the Filipino writer who serves as an expatriate. Miguel is an expatriate but he draws more attention to the work that is being done in a homegrown basis.”

Syjuco advises writers looking to break into the international scene not to look at any recognition as the end all and be all of their growth as a writer.

“What I want to do is earn these opportunities, and then work as hard as I can to develop. I see this as a vote of confidence in my work, and therefore I have to work as hard as I can to develop that. I know that we should always strive to push ourselves than we’re able, I know that it will always be difficult,” he says. “Sometimes I get carried away with all the things that are happening to me. But I sit down at the desk, and I start writing, and it’s still the hardest thing I’ve ever done. And I’m really glad about that.”