Jessica Zafra's Blog, page 14

What are you waiting for, the apocalypse? Enroll in Jessica Zafra’s Writing Boot Camp in March and write that story now.

Time to write your story before we all run out of time. Jessica Zafra’s Writing Boot Camp consists of two Saturday sessions from 1-4pm. The Nexus Center is at 1010 Metropolitan Avenue, Makati. On March 21 we will discuss the writing process, do writing exercises, and plan what you’re going to write. On March 28 […]

I’ve just finished my first short story for 2020. Here’s an excerpt.

The Adventuress by Jessica Zafra for Jeffrey Jeturian She was very beautiful, so she always had her way. Throughout her childhood people told her parents that her beauty would bring them great fortune. To her parents, low-level bank employees this meant she would become a beauty queen or a famous actress, and they would never […]

Blake, astrology, and animal rights: Cram notes for our book club meeting on Saturday, 25 January 2020

Reminder: Our first Bibliophibians Book Club meeting for this decade is on Saturday, 25 January 2020. Book: Drive Your Plow Over The Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk. Time: 4-6pm. Venue: Tin-aw Art Gallery at Somerset Olympia, Makati Avenue beside the Manila Peninsula. It’s our last book club meeting at Tin-aw (sob), which closes […]

If your New Year’s resolution is to read more books, this is for you

Why do we even bother with the Oscars?

J.Lo in Lorene Scafaria’s Hustlers, which got zero nominations Public interest in the Oscars has fallen. The choices are mostly predictable. The ceremony is preceded by dozens of other awards ceremonies, so by the time it rolls around we’re tired of seeing everyone mouth the same platitudes. Media coverage focuses more on the outfits than […]

100 Favorite Books, 2020 edition

Every year (since 2012) I post a list of my 100 favorite books. That’s exactly what it is, a list of my favorite books: not a canon, not a prescription, not a greatest books compilation. The list changes a little every year—some books are replaced, with much regret, and sometimes they come back later. What […]

What did you do in 2019?

See #2 1. Read a lot of books Finished more than my one-a-week quota! Among this year’s favorites: – Family Lexicon by Natalia Ginzburg, about an artistic, highly-strung family living in Italy under Mussolini. – Tell Them of Battles, Kings, and Elephants by Mathias Enard imagines that Michelangelo lived in Istanbul for a year to […]

Have a tranquil, relatively stress-free holiday season

Start the new decade with our free writing + mindfulness workshop on January 11, 2020

Thank you for a good year. The world is on fire and going bonkers, but it’s comforting to know that there are humans who think, read, and want to understand. Thank you for being alive! We have something for you. Start the new year with a fresh outlook. Come to our Free Sanity Maintenance Workshop […]

“Everything in these stories happened to someone.” Listen to our Q&A from the book launch.

Jessica and moderator Deo Giga do a Q&A at the launch of her Collected Stories last November 2 at Nexus Center. It was also the first death anniversary of Saffy. We’re still trying to find out about Deo’s super-secret life.