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Call for entries: South-East Asian creative writing anthology for young writers

Publisher: University of Santo Tomas (UST) Publishing House, The Philippines.

Works Needed: Open to South-East Asian writers and translators below 40. Poetry, prose (fiction, travelogues, essays, blogs, etc), 1-act plays, short screen/teleplays, comics (not over 30 pages long), and everything in between–literary experiments as well as genre works (horror, sci-fi, fantasy, etc, or combinations thereof). Past published works are also welcome. Shorter works will have their originals as well as their English translation printed. No overriding theme(s) as yet. As the first installment of a hopefully ongoing series, the main focus now is establishing sustainable networks among writers and translators in the region.

Deadline: 1 August 1, 2007. Going to press by December or the first quarter of 2008.

Editor: Mervin Espina (The Philippines). There might also be a co-editor from a different South-East Asian country.

Editor’s Biodata: Mervin Espina spent his childhood shuttling between the southern suburbs of Metro Manila and Brunei Darussalam. At age 4, his life’s ambition was to become a garbage collector. To his parent’s relief he studied philosophy, literature, and Spanish at the University of Santo Tomas and the University of the Philippines. When he turned 18, he got a break freelancing as a writer and photographer for Philippine dailies and magazines, eventually gravitating to more music and film-related activities. He’s been actively documenting and participating in the Philippine indie film scene and has done production and translation work for numerous projects, like The Family That Eats Soil (2004) and The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros (2005). He also helps program and organize film screenings and festivals in the Philippines and abroad. As for dreams of being a garbage collector—one needs only to look at his room. He’s a vegetarian and has two silver goldfish.

Editor’s contact: geneticleftoversoup@gmail.com / skype: merv.espina.

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