Eight Stories

by Alfred A. Yuson

Eight Stories is the author’s selection of old and new stories, and the perfect introduction to Krip Yuson’s art. It includes:
• the dense, extravagant prose and wild imagination of the 23-year-old poet;
• a fanciful, flower-children romance of the early seventies;
• a coming-of-age story which unfolds against a backdrop of violence in the shadow of the Sierra Madre;
• a hilarious, surrealist story which showcases one of the author’s best and least appreciated facets—his humor;
• the much-awarded and best known story of the mature artist, a magical tale which could be a parable on the environment;
• another rollicking, ribald tale of youthful initiation; and
• two of his most recent stories: the clipped, fast-paced account of sex in the bourse and the lyrical tale set in troubled Mindanao.

Alfred A. Yuson, aka Krip, has authored fourteen books of poetry, fiction, children's literature, essays, and a biography. His literary awards include the Carlos Palanca Hall of Fame, the SEAWrite Award, First Prizes in the Asiaweek, Philippines Free Press and National Midweek short story competitions, the Cultural Center of the Philippines poetry contest, the Palanca Grand Prize for the Novel for his first novel, and a Centennial Literary Prize for his second novel.

He was a Fellow at the International Writing Program in Iowa City, the International Poetry Conference at the University of Hawaii, the Cambridge Seminar, University of Cambridge, and the International Writers Retreat at Hawthornden Castle; and participated in literary conferences, seminars and festivals in Japan, China, Finland, Scotland, Thailand, Malaysia, United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

He is a founding member of the Philippine Literary Arts Council, Creative Writing Foundation, Inc. and Manila Critics Circle; is currently Chairman of UMPIL and member of the Movie and Television Ratings and Classification Board; and teaches fiction and poetry at the Ateneo de Manila University.

97 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Also known as Krip Yuson.

Alfred Yuson has authored 23 books, including novels, poetry collections, short fiction, essays, and children's stories, apart from having edited various other titles. Yuson was conferred the Southeast Asia Write Award (SEA Write) in 1992 in Bangkok, and has been elevated to the Hall of Fame of the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, the Philippines ‘ most prestigious literary distinction. He has frequently represented the Philippines in Literary conferences, festivals and reading tours in the United States, Japan, China, Finland, Scotland, Thailand, Malaysia, United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, South Africa, and Columbia, and his works may be found in many international anthologies.

Yuson is a founding member of the Philippine Literary Arts Council (PLAC), Creative Writing Foundation, Inc. and Manila Critics Circle, and was Chairman of Writers Union of the Philippines . His bibliography includes the potry collections: Sea Serpent, (Monsoon Press, 1980), Trading in Mermaids (Anvil Publishing, Inc., 1993), Mothers Like Elephants (Anvil Publishing, Inc., 2000) Hairtrigger Loves: 50 Poems on Woman (University of the Philippines Press, 2002), and the translation, Love's A Vice/ Bisyo ang Pag-ibig: Translations into English of 60 Poems by mike L. Birgonia (National Commission for Culture at the Arts, 2004). Yuson currently writes a literature and culture column for The Philippines Star. He also teaches fiction and poetry at Ateneo de Manila University, where he held the Henry Lee Irwin Professorial Chair in Creative Writing. His two novels, The Great Philippine Jungle Café and Voyeurs and Savages are studies of Philippine culture. Another novel, The Music Child, was among five works short listed for the second (2008) Man Asian Literary Prize.

(From panitikan.com.ph.)