“Not long ago, in a city nearby…” Listen to excerpts from The Collected Stories of Jessica Zafra.
Portents
I wrote this in 1991, an apocalyptic time—the first Iraq War, the Baguio earthquake, the eruption of Mt Pinatubo, daily 12-hour power outages. Little did I know. The story won first prize at the Palanca Awards and got me a publishing deal with Anvil, which was then managed by Karina Bolasco. Karina is still my publisher, this time with Ateneo University Press.
“_____ was here”
For about 24 hours I was enrolled at law school. Then I came to my senses—I would’ve been a crap lawyer. This story appeared in my first book, Manananggal Terrorizes Manila. Gaby Lapus did a feature on my book for the old Probe TV show on GMA-7. And then she went to law school.
914, 915, 916
Ricky Villabona, Jay Lozada and I lived in adjacent studio apartments in the same building, but at different times. We did not meet until we had all moved out of the place. This story is set in that building.
Get your signed copies of The Collected Stories of Jessica Zafra (Ateneo University Press, 2019) here. To order, email your full name and delivery address to saffron.safin@gmail.com.
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