I just attended the Dumaguete Literary Festival, where I sat in the panels for fiction and horror writing. I also read an excerpt from Edilberto Tiempo’s short story “Mr. McLure” as part of a literary tour of the city and did a small book signing with a few other authors. I arrived in Dumaguete expecting to experience it as a fictionist, but was pleasantly surprised to have spent time with friends old and new from the food and agriculture space as well.

The event was held in Arts + Design Collective, a collection of small creative businesses located in the compound of a 1950s house. I met Gayle and Ernest Acar, the couple who co-founded the Festival with Festival Director Ian Casocot. They also own LibrAria, the quaint independent bookstore located on the premises (where you can buy my books). I ran into good friends, sustainable general store Ritual’s Bea Misa Crisostomo and her husband Rob. I was delighted to find out that Ritual’s Dumaguete branch is located in the compound, so I was able to get some shopping done in between my responsibilities as a festival guest. Bea is also president of Global Seed Savers. I also finally met creator and food activist Jen Horn. We follow each other online but had never been formally introduced. As soon as the literature part of my trip was over, it was all about food and farms.

The Acars drove me and fictionists Claire Betita de Guzman and Kate Torralba (who is more known as a fashion designer and musician) to a small farm in Dauin, with Bea following with her two kids. We were introduced to owner Mohammed “Mo” Malik, who gave me and Claire separate tours of his farm before everyone settled in the living room of his lovely farmhouse with glasses of either basi (coconut wine) or a coconut milk drink whose name I forget, both made locally. This was paired with an ice cream tub filled with banana-based snacks: maruya, turon, and banana cue (sans stick). If you’ve read my latest short fiction collection Insect Hag, you’ll know that I went straight for the banana cue.

Mo and Ernest also co-edit the food zine Kaon-Kaon, which explores Bisaya food culture. It was a lovely coincidence because Claire and I had been gushing over a copy that we saw in the Dumaguete National Museum a few days earlier. Ernest gave everyone a copy, and Mo gave me two issues of Tagalog horror magazines he bought in the market.

The next day, Bea picked me up so we could have lunch with Jen, Mo, and Hannah Magno, who had moderated the horror panel. The conversation centered on food, culture, and how to make folks appreciate local produce and dishes in a world where food has become a commercial commodity, something to be signaled instead of savored.

Bea and Gayle gave me leads on people to feature, I’ll be interviewing Mo about his farming journey, and I’m very excited for Jen’s next project.

While I’m much honored to have been able to participate as a panelist at the Dumaguete Literary Festival, I’m also very, very grateful to have been able to hang out with the food and agriculture people. The group was the antidote I needed to calm down from an exciting event. What I'm trying to say is that community is important, and if you’re lucky, you’ll find supportive communities for each of your interests.