On February 27, 2024, the Center for Rinconada Culture and the Arts, in cooperation with the Ateneo de Naga University Press and Savage Mind: Arts, Books, Cinema launched the second edition of Mia Tijam’s Flowers for Thursday, a collection of short stories with Rinconada translation by Elbert O. Baeta and Kristian N. Escobido.
The breakthrough second edition of Flowers for Thursday is the first English-Rinconada short story book in Philippine literature. The book has an introduction by H. Francisco V. Peñones, Jr. and an afterword by Kristian S. Cordero. It has been designed by Ryan C. Cuatrona with cover art by Paolo Gerero and edited by Jusan Misolas.
First published on June 30, 2021, Flowers for Thursday is the author’s debut collection of stories: “Remembering Thursday,” “Waiting for Agua de Mayo,” “The Ascension of Our Lady Boy,” “Wishes Do Come True,” “What the Children of Muerte Caxerex Say,” and “Talking to Juanito.” Earlier versions have appeared in magazines, short stories and speculative fiction anthologies, in digital form and international collections, one of which is Bewildering Stories, a popular web-based magazine for speculative fiction.
Speculative Fiction
Mia Tijam is recognized as one of the leading writers and editors who have advanced speculative fiction in the Philippines. She co-edited the pioneering online anthology Philippine Speculative Fiction Sampler with Charles S. Tan in 2008 — it was the first virtual anthology of its kind in the country. She has contributed to the yearly Philippine Speculative Fiction anthology and is among the writers selected for The Best of Philippine Speculative Fiction 2005-2010, published in paperback on January 1, 2013, by University of the Philippines Press, co-edited by Dean Francis and Nikki Alfar.
Speculative fiction is a broad genre of fiction in literature that encompasses works set in worlds different from the reader’s own, often involving supernatural, futuristic, or other imagined elements. This genre includes subgenres like science fiction, fantasy, horror, alternate history, and more. It allows writers to explore “what if” scenarios and create imaginative realms that depart from everyday reality. It contemplates and explores what could be, what is possible, but also what is impossible. (References: Oxford Languages, Master Class, and Wikipedia)
The book Flowers for Thursday is described by the publisher as, “The stories are in the forged tongue of English interwoven with the native languages of Rinconada, Bicol, Tagalog, Filipino, and Baklese which is the dynamic language of the Philippine LGBTQIA+ community.” In an interview with CNN on January 5, 2022, Mia Tijamm stated, “If the question was “Who do I write for?” I don’t write for the international (audience), I write for the Philippine audience.” Notwithstanding this mindset, Flowers for Thursday has attracted attention from international critics.
Book Reviews
In StoryBundle.com which promotes the discovery of quality books written by invited authors of note, here’s what the curator Robert Jeschonek, an American fiction writer, said about Flowers for Thursday, “(It) features a unique alchemy of Philippine folklore, contemporary fantasy, and LGBTQIA+ culture that truly dazzled me. It often knocked me off-balance, but in a good way, upsetting my personal worldview by showing me life and legend through the eyes of others who are different and challenging in the most extraordinary ways. Reading Flowers is like traveling to a strange and distant land, a place filled with magic and faith, and realizing that my own home is stark and Spartan by comparison.”
Noted American speculative fiction writer, Jeffrey Ford, wrote about Flowers for Thursday on his FB page August 30, 2021, “These stories are not straight up fantasy or science fiction, they are more tales of everyday life wherein the supernatural intrudes, or the bizarre occurs, or the Aswang, demons and sprites of Philippine culture or other entities from local folklore are at play. I find them ultimately engaging because they are so well grounded in a kind of clear-eyed reality. The stories are, of course, in English, but a good many Tagalog words and phrases remain untranslated, which I like as a reader. Not everything is explained and as I move through the pages of the tales I feel as if I am visiting another culture and slowly learning about it as one does when actually there. A few of the stories here deal with childhood and its wonder and the sense of loss that comes with age and a changing world.”
Jeffrey Ford elaborated on Mia Tijam’s writing style quite evident in his favorite in the collection (The Ascension of Our Lady Boy), “…Gritty and tough… An entire life condensed into the ten or fifteen pages of this story. Remarkable. The other stories are equally engaging. The writing is usually very direct, but can also, at times, be exceedingly beautiful. A real plus here is the no nonsense dialogue. Tijam really has that down. Also, if you want to see Tijam’s writing on display, look no further than her FB page where she writes daily extensive entries about her life with her special needs son and the rest of her family and days in a wonderful reportorial style.”
Alfred A. Yuson, author of novels, short stories and poetry, writing for Philippine Star on September 4, 2022, professed about the complexity of Mia Tijam’s writings, “It’s a bit of a tough read, for me, anyway, as Tijam’s fiction often bewilders with its wild amalgam that utilizes some familiar creatures of lower mythology that have localized (made Irigueño, that is) variants, such as faux tikbalangs, along with versions of “the other” and related denizens of the invisible world. Then too there’s frequent use of local terms that are not explained or only thinly contextualized. These italicized terms compete with the non-italicized argot combining Filipino “gayspeak” and trendy syntax identifying with both pop culture and the newly woke. It is thus a welter of layers of seeming verbal hieroglyphs — all that as a departure from the usual structural and textural world-building efforts found in speculative fiction.”
Tuting Hernandaz, University of the Philippines linguistics professor, wrote on April 10, 2024, about the collection of stories, “…where trees bleed and doppelganger shadows live in the in-between, in the what-might-have-beens, where chickens hold wild orgies the night before slaughter and a pescetarian bakunawa dragon is sassy some times, where some friends are not seen ta… ta… and the children of muerta caxerex, well, “amo adi Begas ta”. Flowers for Thursday brought him back to Naga City in the late 70s, “In Mia’s stories, the strange was also familiar. It was like remembering a life lived decades ago… You see, growing up in Bikol in the 70s, the physical and the spiritual spaces were one and the same; Iriga was the place where the aswangs lived; and Sorsogon was where potions were concocted. Our backyard balete tree was the dwelling place of all sorts of creatures, and the huge kamagong was the domain of headless priests. The kakaks sometimes roost atop the tall niyog on the side of the house. It wasn’t magic, it wasn’t fantasy, it wasn’t supernatural. It was just part of our reality. It was what it was.”
Translating to Rinconada
In the introduction, H. Francisco V. Peñones, Jr. enjoins the reader, “Distinguishing the act of writing and narrating needs to be noted here as most of the stories in the collection are rooted in the time of orality, when (verbal) articulation was the medium for education and entertainment.”
During a translator’s talk at Mt. Cloud Bookshop in Baguio City last July 12, 2024, co-translator Elbert O. Baeta spoke about being guided by this keen observation, “One notable aspect of the stories of Mia Tijam is the element of orality.” Furthermore, he said, “Translating the works to Rinconada language is not solely a linguistic exercise but also an act of pag-uli, a metaphorical homecoming of the writer, the stories, and the translators.”
Elbert O. Baeta and Kristian N. Escobido, his co-translator, faced challenges in translating Flowers for Thursday: first, knowing the differences between written Rinconada versus spoken Rinconada; and second, keeping true to the style and voice of the original work. In fact, to translate The Ascension of Our Lady Boy, the translators as well as the editor had to channel their inner “bayot” — a tough act for the heterosexual Kristian and Jusan.
Taking a passage for example from The Ascension of Our Lady Boy, in English: “Then mother, it was a Nora Aunor and Vilma Santos all in-one moment –– I was pummeling his chest while saying “You lied to me!” and “You said you love me!” and “Stay with me!” and “Fight for us!” and “I gave you my heart, body, and soul!” with matching hayop, hayop, hayop.”
In conclusion, H. Francisco V. Peñones, Jr., who penned the introduction, says this about the book, “Crossing the bridge of difference and boundary of expression between the visible and invisible world, between the past and the present, “Flowers for Thursday” is where the known and the stranger, the joyful and melancholic merge in a space given free reign.”
Written by Jojo De Jesus for Dateline Ibalon based on content and photos provided by Mia Tijam, curator’s note written for Story Bundle by Robert Jeschonek, book reviews by Jeffrey Ford on his FB page, Alfred A. Yuson in Philippine Star, Professor Tuting Hernandez on his FB page. The header image is a triptych consisting of (from left to right) the artwork for The Ascension of Our Lady Boy (illustrated by Paolo Gerero), the book cover of the first edition (illustrated by Pen Prestado), and the illustration for Waiting for Agua de Mayo (fan art by Argin Lerit, Manila-based Pinoy comic book creator).
Flowers for Thursday is currently available at the book retailers listed below (click link to learn more):
Ateneo De Naga University Press ∙ Savage Mind: Books, Arts, Cinema ∙ Artbooks.ph ∙ Maginhawa Eco-Store ∙Mt. Cloud Bookshop ∙ Libraria Books ∙Cebu Bookloft ∙Alitaptap Bookshop ∙ Puon
Meet the translators:
ELBERT O. BAETA is a faculty member of the College of Arts and Sciences of the Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges (CSPC) in Nabua, Camarines Sur. He is a writer, translator, and cultural worker. In 2012, he received a fellowship from the Juliana Arejola-Fajardo Writers Workshop. His first poetry collection, Gapo: Mga Rawitdawit asin Piling Dakitaramon sa Filipino, was published in 2018. Some of his works have also appeared in various local and national publications, such as Ani 39: The Philippine Literary Yearbook of CCP, Girok: Anthology of Bikol Erotica, Pagkamoot: Mga Binirikol na Usipon Haling Europa, BKL/Bikol Bakla: Anthology of Bikolnon Gay Trans Queer Writing, Liwayway Magazine, Revolt Magazine PH, Katipunan Journal, DX Machina 3, and Hindi Pasisiil ang Pagsibol. At present, he is the Director of the Center for Rinconada Culture and the Arts at CSPC Nabua.
KRISTIAN N. ESCOBIDO studied linguistics, social sciences, philosophy, and obtained a degree in Bachelor of Science in Community Development at the University of the Philippines, Diliman, where he is to pursue graduate studies in Public Administration. He is a volunteer translator for the Let’s Read Rinconada Book Adaptations sponsored by the Department of Education, The Asia Foundation, USAID, Florida State University, RTI International, and SIL LEAD. And has done translation work for English, Filipino, Bicol, and Rinconada in film, museum, and educational projects. He served as technical writer with the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor, the Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rural Development Project, and the Department of Information and Communication Technology’s National Government Data Center Project. He currently works with the Anti-Red Tape Authority.
Meet the author
MIA TIJAM was born in Iriga City. Her family migrated to Naga City where she completed her basic education in Colegio de Sta. Isabel and Naga Central School I, and the Science-Oriented Program of the Camarines Sur National High School. She studied European Languages, Philosophy, Literary Theory, and Creative Writing as an undergraduate, and Comparative Literature as a graduate studies student at the University of the Philippines, Diliman. She was one of the first Fellows for Creative Nonfiction in the 2007 Silliman National Writers Workshop in Dumaguete City and is acknowledged as one of the writers and editors who have advanced Philippine Speculative Fiction. She served as the Co-editor of the Philippine Speculative Fiction Sampler; Editor of the Special Section for PWDs and PADs of the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Literary Journal ANI 41: LAKBAY; Co-editor of the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Hanggang sa Muli: Pagpupugay at Pasasalamat sa mga Pumanaw; and Editor of Philippine Genre Stories.