scenes from visprint writers in talks (wit) 2015

Thank you to my publisher Visprint, the UST Literary Society, and to everyone who attended the Writers in Talks (WIT) 2015 event on March 21. I had so much fun, and I do hope the aspiring young writers in attendance learned a thing or two. There are photos floating around in the ether, but here are some of mine:

This is at the beginning of Writer’s Lifestyle panel, which I thought was pretty fun. The host asks a question (“How often do you release new work?”) and the writers line up behind the choices (“A: Prolific, every month; B: Happy Birthday, once a year; C: Century egg” — you can guess what this option means.)

Big crowd.

This is from the Lost Covers exhibit — an exhibit of rejected covers. I wasn’t able to take a photo of the alternate Dwellers cover. (It was white instead of black.)

Manix Abrera’s line of fans.

Boo!

The Komiks panel was facilitated by Paolo Fabregas.

Mervin Malonzo showed old sketches from his childhood. Very interesting to see how his style evolved.

Tepai Pascual talking about her manga influences.

I facilitated the Publishing 101 panel with Paolo Chikiamco, Bebang Siy, Nida Ramirez, and Bart Coronel. We discussed: “red flags” in publication contracts, publication horror stories, services writers can expect from a traditional publisher, comparisons of digital/self/traditional publishing, and ways we can improve the local publishing industry. It ended on a great note, with Paolo talking about how important it is for writers to empower themselves. “Every time you look out for yourself as a writer, you look out for other writers. Every time you sell yourself short, you make it easier for publishers to sell other writers short. You will see that there are movements to create a situation wherein those who create benefit the least from their creations. You should not let this happen.”

Ferdinand Jarin serenading attendees.

Manix Abrera gave away some cool prizes (I wanted the Alan Moore comics SO BAD — next time I’m going to stop by the registration table!) including a lifetime supply of Kikomachine Komiks. He was serious.