KRIPOTKIN By Alfred A. Yuson November 24, 2008 12:00 AM Philippine Star www.philstar.net Those fateful three days and nights in Hong Kong before the previous weekend were alternately relaxing and suspenseful, the latter only a bit. Good thing I’ve had minimal relations with luck of late, so that hoping for a big turn was hardly in my agenda. When the shortlist for the Man Asian Prize for the novel was announced on Oct. 22, it started a dizzying ride — from pleasant surprise to pride of place, seeing as how it meant honor not really for oneself alone, but for country. International literary agents and at least one notable publisher were quick to initiate communications, asking for a copy of the manuscript. It was just as buddy Butch Dalisay recounted when he gained the finals in the contest’s first edition last year. He levitated for weeks, all the way to the ceremonial awards dinner in Hong Kong. Same here. Congrats were rife, and the honor was doubled because there was a fellow Pino...

Chuck Syjuco wrote this letter and sent this to Flips, an e-group of Fil-Am writers. I am reprinting this here for all to know and see that we, indeed, have world-class literary talents in our midst. *** For a long time I've been a quiet observer on these threads and discussions following your work, idolizing your achievements, dreaming of one day being able to publish a book and maybe teach creative writing, as so many of you have done before. For fifteen years I've written stories and poems and for three years I've worked slowly on this, my first, novel, drawing insight from your discussions, collecting details from the online editions of our dailies, calibrating my perception of the reality of our beloved country by scouring the myriad blogs. Due to my frequent but never-frequent-enough trips home to Manila, the work you've all done, and all the encouragement I've received from those of you who've known me and my literary aspirations, I have suddenly, overnig...