“Does someone like me even deserve happiness?”
I spent the last few days ruminating on my review for this film because there were so many aspects I wanted to comment on and very little time (and energy, tbh) to actually write something down. So here’s an attempt to encapsulate all of my feelings for Song Joongki’s latest film.
WARNING: Mild spoilers ahead.
Exciting news!
The Ateneo Institute of Literary Arts and Practices (AILAP) is working with #RomanceClass to bring you the 21st Ateneo National Writers Workshop (21ANWW)! This year, AILAP aims to explore romance writing that challenges current conventions, as well as contribute to the direction and future of the genre.
This is amazing to me in many different levels, but mainly because as a young aspiring writer who had an inclination toward writing love stories, I was never encouraged to write romance by the academe. Perhaps it was not conveyed directly to me that the romance genre wasn’t welcome in the literary sphere, but the way literature was being taught at the time and the type of short stories and poetry that the school’s publication put out made it seem so. To have an actual academic entity promote the exploration of the romance genre is refreshing to me, and I am looking forward to the stories we’re going to be seeing through this program.
I’m very happy to report that I had a very productive month in terms of reading. By the end of January, I’d been able to read five books (two audiobooks, two ebooks, and one graphic novel/komiks anthology). I’m not sure I’ll be able to post reviews about all of them, but I have two of them right here:
My body is currently in recovery mode from our three-day Komiket ~gig this past weekend. Mina, Ron, and myself were the #RomanceClass tinderas at Ayala Market! Market! from Friday to Sunday, and as always, the experience had been educational (and tiring, haha).
On the first week of the new year, I watched two Filipino films on Netflix back-to-back! Here are some of my thoughts about A Very Good Girl and Monday First Screening. There will be spoilers ahead—read at your own risk!