UP CWC Awards 35 Writing Fellowships
UP Press Launches New Titles at the Megamall
Book Launch Photos
Writers Kwentuhan Features Genoveva Edroza Matute
Kwentuhan Photos
The National Book Awards
CWC Pictorial

Short Fiction

• Marco V. Lopez: BI 
• Libay Cantor: Curve Song
• Roselle Pineda: O.N.S.
• Jhonanna Cruz: Cielo

• Shakira Andrea Sison
• Song of Eves
• A Letter from the Book of Dre'
• Danton Remoto: Water
• Ronald Baytan 
• Mizi Xia, Jade
• Pan Zhang
• Ralph Semino Galan
• Backroom Love II
• Underwear

• Likhaan 98 Anthology calls on selected writers 
• Send announcements and contributions 

For you, my lover, I will be like water.
                   Danton Remoto, Water.

This quotation basically sums up the literary works in this issue of Likhaan Online. Focusing on what Ladlad calls “the bravest literature being written today”, we present to you a harvest of the most active, if visual, of the writings that bloomed this decade. We invite the reader to explore the sexualities that were once relegated to bookstores’ Self Help and Psychology shelves and deemed “abnormal” because non-conventional. 

At present the crop of new writers of gay and lesbian literature has grown considerably, and many are out of thier closets and hopping into Literature shelves. With this issue on the Net, we bring this “brave” writing a step further. Of course, we make neither assertions nor judgments about these authors’ individual sexualities. In the end, whether you believe that one inevitably reveals one’s sexual preference in what he or she writes, depends on your school of thought. 

Neither do we assert that Gay and Lesbian literature is all festive now that it has gained support. In fact, if there is one important thing homosexual writing has exposed, it is the very difficulty of living a homosexual life. “BI” talks about the pressure of isolation and categorization; "Curve Song" dwells on the rejection and "Cielo" on the competition, "Backroom Love II" alludes to the anti-gay church in its metaphor, and Pineda’s “O.N.S.” (One Night Stand) shows what homosexual love is reduced to (at least most of the time) after all else have been denied.

Of course, not everything is problematic either. "A Letter from the Book of Dre'" exalts in lesbian love; "Pan Zhang" romanticizes a gay legend, and "Underwear" just basks in homoeroticism.

Again, we hope you take delight in this issue's  featured works. Express yourself and happy reading!

The list of fellows for the 35th and 36th National Writers Workshops is now out. Check it out in our News section, as well as  photos of various writing events this month, including the Writer's Kwentuhan, the UP Book Launch, and a scenic CWC pictorial.

Gio B. Tavanlar IV
Webmaster