| Dear Reader,
When we first conceptualized
Baliktanaw:
Akdang Pilipino mula sa Ibayong Dagat, we basically wanted an issue
that would showcase the writings of Filipinos abroad. What we got, however,
was so much more than that.
This month's theme has spilled
out from the Literary Section that we thought would contain it, and has
delightfully filled and inspired several other parts of this issue.
In our news section, for
example, we have 2 Fil-American writers in back-to-back Likhaan events..
Under
our special features, we have a column by Jose Y. Dalisay
who just got back from London. Our book launch section features
the launching of a landmark Filipina American anthology. The visuals themselves
are sketches provided by an American with a heart that goes out to
the Philippines. And of course, under our Literary section, we have
9 works from Filipinos from all over the world, including 1 from an American
reader.
We are likewise featuring
Joseph Nathan Cruz, whose valedictory speech seems appropriate for this
issue, as it questions our notions of solidarity in the global village.
If this issue can provide
an additional dimension as to what Cruz' solidarity
entails, it is perhaps the idea that Filipinos, no matter where they are
in the world, will always keep in touch with their country, be it in thought
or speech or, as far as Baliktanaw is concerned, in writing.
Additonally, because many
other nationalities have responded to Likhaan Online's call for Filipino
works, perhaps the idea of global solidarity and national unity
must eventually lose its geographic or racial boundaries. In the
end, solidarity means embracing the "multitudes consigned to the margins,"
as Cruz says.
With that, we hope you do
enjoy this issue which, aside from being international on the internet,
is international in many other ways.
Gio B. Tavanlar IV |
