Dream sketches

by Marra P.L. Lanot

Excerpt from "...Dream Sketches is my first collection of prose, which showcases some of my personal interests in various arenas of life. It is a continuation of my childhood learning experiences as a member of a family and as part of society. It is proof that human beings can and do change. I would to believe that it is the voice of one as well as of many..." Maria PL. Lanot

Genres: Essays

234 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Marra P.L. Lanot is a poet, essayist, and freelance journalist. She has published articles and columns in newspapers and magazines on the arts, culture, and politics. She also translates poems from English and Filipino into Spanish, just as her own poems have been translated and published abroad into foreign languages such as Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Dutch, and Japanese.

Reviews

[K.D. Absolutely · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first Marra PL. Lanot book and this is so intriguing that I'd like to read more of her works. Prior to picking this book all I knew about her was that she is the loving wife one of the highly respected authors in the Philippines, Jose "Pete" F. Lacaba. The young Lacaba was one of the student-activists incarcerated and tortured by the military during the Martial Law era particularly during the First Quarter Storm in the early 70's. Lacaba's release in prison was through the connections of National Artist of the Philippines in Literature Nick Joaquin. In fact, Joaquin wrote the short Introduction in the book.

This 2013-first released book is composed of 16 previously published essays. Not knowing anything about Marra PL. Lanot (except what I mentioned above), it did not surprise me to be reading the first three articles - about former senator Raul Manglapus (post-EDSA 1: 7/2/90), about Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (1/15/1984, notably prior to her entry to politics) and about Col. Ramon J. Farolan, the commissioner of the Bureau of Customs under Marcos (10/15/81, notably pre-EDSA 1). But the next one was, for me, unsettling: about Imee Marcos (also pre-EDSA 1: 3/7/82). I asked myself: why was Marra PL. Lanot writing passionately (translation: positively) about the daughter of the dictator whose politics her husband strongly fought against? The answer dawned on me while finishing the rest of the essays: these articles are about telling the stories about people and Marra PL. Lanot was just doing her job as writer-journalist for the magazines she worked for. She also worked at the Cultural Center of the Philippines so she probably had to toe the line.

With the well-written articles about the past, this book also brought me back to my younger years: Rico J. Puno's heydays when he could afford throwing expensive watches and clothes to his audience during his full-packed concerts; the original "divah" Didith Reyes before eloping with married men and bouts with drugs; the sweet Sandy Andolong before making a mistake of falling in love with the married Christopher de Leon (she should have married me instead); and about the quintessential Chanda Romero who I knew almost nothing about except watching and liking her in movies. However, the ones that I truly enjoyed are the one about the surfacing of Bobbie Malay after President Cory Aquino released all political prisoners after EDSA 1 and the last article (Graphic, 1991) about Isabel Allende particularly how Marra PL. Lanot was able to connect with her. You see, prior to this book, I thought it would be hard for mere mortals to arrange interviews with world literary giants. There was no mention in the article if Graphic shouldered Marra PL. Lanot's airfare to California but my take was that she went there just to talk face-to-face with Allende.

Marra PL. Lanot's writing is a joy to read. She graduated with A. B. English from the University of the Philippines in 1965. I Googled her and also learned that she writes in Spanish. She is probably the last of her batch among local authors who can still do this. She founded a number of organizations advocating various social and civic issues. My appreciation of Philippine literature would not be complete without reading her works.

Thank you, Mrs. Lacaba for sharing your works to us. I will surely be reading the rest of your books. Mabuhay po kayo.

[natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love people writing about people! profile essays are one of my favorite forms of creative non-fiction, and it was a delight to be introduced to marra lanot’s previous writings. an intriguing read for those curious about well-renowned people’s lives! loved how she humanized but didn’t glamorize the figures she wrote about. i felt her storytelling shine through when she was writing about women, especially advocates of activism and feminism. maybe a personal preference but i didn’t feel interested in reading about the lives of businesspeople and politicians 😅