Zamboanga, its waters, and its people are the settings for UPMin Instructor Sigrid Marianne Gayangos’ first published collection of stories. 

“The tropical seas, the ocean, the waters, and vast archipelagic realms become sites of the unknowable, sometimes even forbidding places that refuse to give up their stories,” wrote fellow Mindanaoan writer Kristine Ong-Muslim in the foreword to the book.

“Laut: Stories,” Gayangos’ newly published book, features 13 stories set in the author’s birthplace of Zamboanga. Now based in Dumaguete City, the author was in Davao to meet her UPMin students, and the UPMin Department of Humanities took the opportunity to hold a book launch and author’s talk. 

The discussions touched on how the author began writing, her conscious choice to take inspiration from her roots, the process of revision, and the challenges that come with being a Mindanaoan writer.

“The stories contain the reality and experiences of interethnic communities. It taps into their political consciousness. It has queer and sociopolitical themes, and dives deep into the marvelous and fantastic,” said UPMin student Daryll.

According to the author each story has a different approach relating to how she understood water. “...there’s turbulence. It’s erratic, it’s unpredictable…it’s also scary—we never know what’s underneath,” she said. Despite these things, writing, she admits, has allowed her to explore the depths of water through the stories she wrote. 

Despite her works being categorized under speculative fiction, Ms. Sigrid expressed how it tackles realities that seem more familiar than readers think.

“Laut: Stories” may sound marvelous or nonrealist, but she explained that these were tales she grew up with, coming from a long line of fisherfolks, and were what helped shape her stories. 

During the talk, she expressed how seven of the stories were “major overhauls” of her thesis collections, while the six other stories are new. 

The UP Mindanao Department of Humanities held the book launch and author’s talk for “Laut: Stories” by Instructor Sigrid Marianne Gayangos on 4 May 2023, moderated by Associate Prof. John Bengan. The book is published by UP Press and is also available online.

Prof. Jhoanna Lynn Cruz of the Department of Humanities (most left, in the photo above) led a panel discussion entitled "Mindanao Fictions," at the Mindanao Book Fair on March 19, 2023, in her capacity as president of the Davao Writers Guild. The panel was hosted by independent publisher Everything's Fine. Associate Prof. John Bengan (second from left), also of the Humanities department and author of "Armor," a collection of short stories, was joined by Elizabeth Joy Serrano-Quijano, author of "Dili Pwede Mogawas," a short story collection, and Jade Mark Capiñanes, author of "How to Grieve," prose collection. Prof. Cruz and the panelists discussed how their stories engage with re/writing Mindanao to help define Mindanaoan and/or Mindanawon literature. The authors also accommodated book-signing requests. The public panel discussion addresses freedom of speech, social exclusion experiences, gender equality, and psychological well-being, among other ideas.   

View the discussion here: https://youtu.be/GGKRbg9tGeY

The College of Humanities and Social Sciences held public events from 27 February 2023 until 2 March 2023 on the theme, "Pag-aralan ang Lipunan, Hamunin ang Kinabukasan!" (Study Society, Challenge the Future!). The CHSS Week is an offering for the 28th UP Mindanao Anniversary.