Jim Pascual Agustin's Blog, page 26
October 6, 2015
Poetry | Books LIVE
Bookslive writes about the 2015 Sol Plaatje European Union Awards.
Filed under: Africa, Creatures, Jim Pascual Agustin, Life in a different world, Literary News & Articles, Mga Tula / Poetry, poetry, Sky for Silent Wings Tagged: Baleka, Jim Pascual Agustin, Serote, Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Awards
October 5, 2015
October 2, 2015
Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award 2015 Shortlist Announced
The Jacana Literary Foundation is pleased to announce the 2015 Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award winners.
From the longlist of poems selected by a jury of distinguished South African poets, senior judge Dr Mongane Wally Serote, winner of the prestigious Golden Wreath Award, has selected the three finalists for this year’s Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award.
In no particular order, the three shortlisted poems are:
• Jim Pascual Agustin, for ‘Baleka, What do You Know of Tenders and Thieves? Or Cockroaches for that Matter?’
• Sindiswa Busuku-Mathese, for ‘A Portrait of a Mother and Indiscretion’
• Athol Williams, for ‘Streetclass Diseases’
The winners will all receive cash prizes.
How these poems have been placed, and the overall winner, will be announced at an event hosted by Poetry Africa at 18:00 on 17 October 2015 at Rivertown Beerhall in Durban.
The anthology will be launched at 15:00 on the same day, at 8 Morrison Street, Durban.
CLICK THIS LINK TO ENLARGE: Sol Plaatje 2015
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: 2015, Baleka, Jim Pascual Agustin, Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award
October 1, 2015
Knife Cut on Leather gets featured on Cha
Cha: an Asian Literary Journal has picked up another one of my pieces.
I wrote “Knife Cut on Leather” some years ago and didn’t quite know what it was or where I could send it. So it lay in hibernation until I joined a private online discussion group whose generous but critical members (critical and supportive in the best way I can imagine) told me to forget what to call the piece. It was apparently complete as it was and I should let readers decide what to make of it.
Please read and tell me what you think of the piece.
Filed under: Jim Pascual Agustin, Mga Tula / Poetry, poetry, Uncategorized Tagged: Cha: an Asian Literary Journal, Filipino poetry in English, Jim Pascual Agustin, prose poem, violence
September 29, 2015
Ignoring the Hand of God
My poem is among a few selected by the judges of Poetry! at Goodreads.com this month. Please find time to read and consider voting for “Ignoring the Hand of God.” HERE IS THE UPDATED LINK
I know it may be a bit cumbersome to have to join Goodreads.com and sign up with the Poetry! discussion group before you can cast a vote.
Maraming salamat.
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: A Thousand Eyes, Goodreads.com, ignoring the Hand of God, Jim Pascual Agustin, poetry
August 3, 2015
Bjork likes sharing her work, so shall I
And yes, I’ve admired her work ever since I first listened to Debut. She and Nina Simone were my musical companions as I learned to cope with my unexpected move from Manila to Cape Town in 1994. More on that period later.
What I am posting here is a set of poems from A THOUSAND EYES. Enjoy and I hope to hear from you!
Thanks for being part of this journey.
YOUR VOICE YOUR HAND YOUR EYES MY WORDS published poems A THOUSAND EYES
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: A Thousand Eyes, Bjork, Jim Pascual Agustin, Nina Simone, South Africa, UST Publishing House
July 6, 2015
Born on the 2nd of July: A THOUSAND EYES
cover design by John Marin Flores
My new paper child, A Thousand Eyes, has finally been born. I was in a bit of a mood when I wrote about it (in Filipino, translation later maybe) and posted the rambling as a Note on Facebook.
Copies of the book may for the meantime only be ordered via my Manila publisher, University of Santo Tomas Publishing House. Try contacting them on their Facebook page or email them here: ustph.info@gmail.com or publishing@mnl.ust.edu.ph
I hope to be able to help with the distribution in the next few months. Meanwhile all I can do is try to promote it. I came up with a novel idea of asking friends to send me their readings, doodles, and photographs in response to some of the poems from the book. If you are interested in taking a creative trip with me, drop me a line here and I’ll send you the sampler. If I think we can make it work, I’ll ask your permission before I share it with others.
Thank you, dear readers, for staying with me.
HERE IS THE GOODREADS.COM LINK TO THE BOOK.
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: A Thousand Eyes, Filipino poetry in English, Jim Pascual Agustin, John Marin Flores, poetry, UST Publishing House
July 1, 2015
Ways of Hurting: Greece, “the creditors” and some robbers
Someone declares “Bleed your people, for they deserve to learn that gods need to be appeased.”
Another says “See how straight the string of these puppets. Their limbs jerk with the slightest twitch of our wrists. You must learn from them.”
-o-
Meanwhile, pensioners are shot and robbed in one place, and in another, a man in a wheelchair – not the first – robs a bank.
There are many ways of hurting. There are countless ways of coming together again.
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: assault on pensioners, bank robber, Greece, IMF, robbers, Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award, South Africa, wheelchair, World Bank
June 29, 2015
A poem appears on Cha: an Asian literary journal June 2015 issue
I wonder if the novelty of digital photo frames will pass. Sure, it’s one way of displaying the countless photos we end up taking every day because of the ease of technology. At the same time, though, we move one more step away from what is tangible. Fingertips were never designed to only touch glass… and soon air.
I have a very personal poem that has found a home in Cha: an Asian Literary Journal. Thank you to Jenna Le and Tammy Ho.
Please visit the site and leave a comment. Any show of support goes a long way to those who make room for others to share their work. HERE is the link to my poem, “Photographs Under Plastic Sheets.”
I hope to have it one day as part of my manuscript in progress called HOW TO MAKE A SALAGUBANG HELICOPTER.
What’s the cat photo for? Nothing. Just to “cat”ch your attention. :P
Filed under: How to Make a Salagubang Helicopter Tagged: Cha: an Asian Literary Journal, How to Make a Salagubang Helicopter, Jenna Le, Jim Pascual Agustin, Tammy Ho
June 12, 2015
Leaving the Land: Geometry and Fear (poem from Alien to Any Skin) and some musings
Today my country of birth, the Philippines, celebrates Independence Day.
Google put this banner up, but being in South Africa it took me a while to work out that it was only visible when you log onto the Google Philippines search engine.
As a kid, all I remember when that day came was being on holiday. My parents never took me to wherever there might be parades or state activities. I do remember the national flag being displayed on the most prominent window of each house. I have this vague memory that it was more a national decree to do that rather than something citizens just felt like doing. You remember things differently as a kid. Sometimes memory and imagination cross borders. And sometimes children see things as they are (or should be) much clearer than adults would.
Is my country of birth truly independent when it welcomes military forces from another country to wage war? When drones fly over, identifying targets? When the leaders of the land need to consult foreign powers for the country’s own “protection”? When foreign-owned mining companies put up bogus “local owners” just to resources and displace indigenous people?
When you leave the country where your feet first touched soil, you will never return as the same person. But you also do not have to leave in order to see things a different way. It could be as simple as tilting your head or closing your eyes for a moment while you listen to what’s around you. Sometimes you are drawn to something and cannot explain why. The lines on your palms mark the way you close your hand when you sleep or are at rest. How can anyone see them as anything more?
Here is a poem from ALIEN TO ANY SKIN, the first book that my current publisher, UST Publishing House released (back in 2011). I am still very fond of that book for it made me want to get back in to publishing. I can’t wait to see my forthcoming paper child, A THOUSAND EYES.
-o-
Geometry and Fear
i knew someone once
who could read lines
it was a gift she never wanted
to use, unless you begged her
for some glimmer of a future
she said faith should be enough
and seeing the doubt in my eyes
she had to allow geometry
to lead me out of the dark
you will leave your country
stare loneliness in the eye
bury the dead among the living
and resurrect them unwillingly
because your hands are your way
of seeing in the dark
and i laughed
a bitter laughter
that i had
never heard before
October – November 2007
-o-
I have a feeling I may have posted this poem before, but no matter. There must be a reason I do not yet understand why it resurfaced into memory. It must be the thick fog that had settled overnight where I now live – and it still has not lifted though it is nearly 11 in the morning.
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: A Thousand Eyes, Alien to Any Skin, Geometry and Fear, Jim Pascual Agustin, Philippine Independence Day, sovereignty, US imperialism, UST Publishing House, war on terror
