Anvil Publishing, Inc., Et Al Publishing and Philippine Center of International PEN will launch “Maximum Volume: Best New Philippine Fiction 2014” on June 28, 5 p.m., at Solidaridad Bookstore, Ermita, Manila.
Edited by award-winning fictionists Dean Francis Alfar and Angelo R. Lacuesta, the book features thirteen unpublished pieces from established and new writers: Michelangelo Samson, Christine V. Lao, Noelle Q. de Jesus, Daryll Delgado, Isabel Yap, Kate Osias, Eliza Victoria, Francezca C. Kwe, Heinz Lawrence Ang, Marc Gaba, Glenn Diaz, Crystal Koo and Gino Dizon.
“Maximum Volume is not about making noise but about creating space for emerging Filipino writers and new narratives… Here is a baker’s dozen of the best new contemporary writing, ranging from small personal tragedies to fantastic voyages of the imagination to our nation’s past and present.” Alfar says in the introduction. “There’s one with a nude model in it. There are a couple that are a bit tough to understand. There’s one with Jollibee in it!” Lacuesta writes.
Maximum Volume is the first of a series slated for release annually by Anvil Publishing and Et Al Publishing. Lacuesta says, “There are thirteen stories in this inaugural “Maximum Volume.” Thirteen could be an unlucky number. There might not be another book. But there will be. Because we’re feeling lucky, and there will always be writers who are young and who don’t care when people tell them writing stories isn’t worth much anymore, and that besides there isn’t much to write about anymore in our time.” Details and excerpts from the collection can be seen at www.maxvolumefiction. blogspot.com, a blog dedicated to the anthology.
The “baker’s dozen,” as Alfar puts it, is composed of 13 gifted writers whose works have been featured in several other literary journals and magazines. Several of them have received local and international awards such as Kate Osias, Eliza Victoria, Noelle Q. de Jesus, Francezca C. Kwe, Marc Gaba, Christine V. Lao and Isabel Yap.
Lacuesta and Alfar have edited other anthologies and have released their own titles with Anvil. They are “White Elephants: Stories” and “Flames and Other Stories” for Lacuesta, and “The Kite of Stars and Other Stories” by Alfar. The launch, which is generously supported by Carlo Rossi wines and Powerbooks, is open to students, literature professors and book lovers.
