Our Editor

FAYE ILOGON was a fellow at the UP National Writers’ Workshop, the Dumaguete National Writers’ Workshop, and the Ateneo National Writers’ Workshop. She has received the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award. Her essays have appeared in Sleepless in Manila, My Fair Maladies, and Tikman ang Langit. Though she has been a freelance book editor for sometime, this Cozy Reads gig is her first credited book editing job. As such, she has taken this as a sign that her 30s will be the best time in her life ever.

Authors

I.P. GOZE can be a contender for a writing Olympics. She flexes her writing muscles starting with the usual publications like Philippine Daily Inquirer’s 2bu to the obscure cataloging of Spanish documents to the serious production of manuals for content management sites to the making of hip parenting-oriented articles for www.mom.exchange.ph. She attributes her stamina to keeping up with her daughter and husband.

JASON PAUL LAXAMANA is Pampanga’s hidden treasure. He first shared his writing through his column on Peyups.com entitled 320/320 Vision. His one-act play, Divina Intervention, and his full-length pop stage musical, Donated by Charo Cuneta, were both staged in UP Diliman. He then wrote, directed, and produced a short all-Kapampangan digital film, titled Anak ning Kapri (Spawn of the Kapri). He is currently pursuing media-related projects that aim to promote Kapampangan to the youth.

SALLY MAGDIWANG recently decided to set up sallymagdiwang.blogspot.com to talk about matters of world importance, but it quickly became a blog about “the ones who got away.” She spent Valentine’s Day speed dating and although no spark was ignited, she enjoyed it immensely. She has been going to exotic places in Asia to look for adventure (a.k.a. love) and great stories to tell. She dreams of putting out her first book in the near future.

KAREN MANALASTAS is an avid bibliophile and an aspiring writer.  She has a particular preference for secondhand books, for both personal and economic reasons, and you might find her intently scouring the shelves of your neighborhood booksale.  She won a Palanca award in 2005, and she (not so) secretly dreams of another one.

BELEN MORABELLA believes exceptional books and films are necessary in life along with great food. She would rather keep a low profile but she has gained recognition from her alma mater in Taft when her stories and poems garnered several University Literary Awards. A fellow for the Iyas Workshop in Bacolod and the Dumaguete National Writers’ Workshop, Belen tries to maintain her anonymity through a pseudonym and would prefer to be known for her fondness for cakes and cats.

ELYSS G. PUNSALAN writes to keep herself from going crazy. She has morphed from a choir singer into a manager for a multinational company. Her current obsessions include her one-year-old nephew. Read her works in the third issue of the Philippine Genre Stories Digest and in A Time for Dragons.

ISABEL REOJA is the pseudonym of a woman who is not really a cat person. Her works have appeared in several publications. However, most of it are risqué and should not be read by people who are prone to blush. On normal days, Isabel is the girl-next-door who is forever in search of high-quality sleep, the perfect backpack, and the perfect walking shoes. She does not feel the need to be perfect. This, she thinks, is her biggest achievement in life.

RAYMUND P. REYES is one of the many Filipino professionals making a difference in the world. He teaches English as a Foreign Language to freshmen college students of Yanbu Industrial College in Saudi Arabia. His dynamic writings belie his shy and reserved nature. He is a prolific writer whose works have appeared in various publications like The Philippine Graphic, Home Life, ANI, Cook, and The Philippine Star newspaper.

CHONA SUNER-NARVADEZ is a perennial twenty-something who is either too early or too late. She does her big thinking mostly on a jeep or on a bus, particularly on her monthly commutes from Nueva Ecija, where she is currently the assistant editor of the Philrice News team, to Manila. On rainy days, she is vulnerable to memories of college as a Creative Writing major at UP Diliman. She is looking forward to the best days of her life with her three angels and her soul mate.

CELESTINE TRINIDAD continues to pursue her passion for writing as she takes up medicine at the University of Santo Tomas. She has received an honorable mention for the Amelia Lapeña Bonifacio Literary Award and has won the first prize for UP Family Life and Child Development Children’s Short Story Writing Contest. Her stories have appeared in second issue of the Philippine Genre Stories Digest and the 16th volume of True Philippine Ghost Stories.

ANA MARIA S. VILLANUEVA is a computer science degree holder who started out writing with Foxpro until she discovered a more powerful language. Since then she has been published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Philippines Free Press, The Philippine Graphic, and Reader’s Digest.  She has taken a brief hiatus from her MFA degree in creative writing to explore travel writing, re-educating herself in the heart of the valleys of Banaue and deep in the ocean bed of Micronesia where she discovered love again for the first time.