Press
Praise for Armida Azada (as “Mida Mabitad,” her maiden stage-name)
- On Caryl Churchill’s TOP GIRLS:
“Mida…is refreshingly natural, as real as rain.”
— Cherry Tayao, The Philippine Star
- From I WANT TO MAKE MAGIC:
“…light-spirited and convincing!”
— Manila Standard
- From acting mentor MONIQUE WILSON:
“…an exciting and intelligent actress to watch!”
— Monique Wilson, New Voice Company Artistic Director
- On playing Christine in August Strindberg’s MISS JULIE (as Armida Azada):
“…personal and believable…”
— BC Magazine
Interview
Listen to an interview at RTHK’s Morning Brew, 2007-06-18. (Check out the 3rd segment, 8:00 to 17:30.)
Reviews for A Roomful of Waiting
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The experience of waiting first suggests a period of inactivity, of being subjected to the element of time – which is out of our control. But waiting can be filled with so much anticipation, or trepidation, or frustration, or excitement that it is rarely an inactive experience. The waiter is a passive subject to time and prey to her own emotions. Azada plays with ideas such as this in her collection of poems based on journals kept here in Hong Kong and in the Philippines, where the poet was born and raised.
As any obsessive journal-keeper, Azada writes of the very personal with enough clarity and confidence to allow the reader into her world; to recognize and by consequence, understand. But this poet moves beyond the purely personal experience by inventing new voices, and creating narrators with ideas and experiences of their own. This is what makes the collection so interesting to explore.
The blogger in “Confession at Compline” is living in the extreme world of the addict where the body bends to the addiction and the only metaphor to be found is that of religious torment. The listener in “Virtuosity” speaks with irony and humour. The narrator in “Song for the Lovelorn and Foolish” recites rules and mottos as if in prayer.
Azada plays with form and structure throughout the volume. Her poems have references to pop music and quote lyrics so it wasn’t a surprise to read the Cole Porter-esque love song “You” nor the beautiful requiem that ends the collection, “Stasis, in Situ.”
My favourites were found in “Haboured Affection.” “Song to Prufrock” is an imagined conversation in which the narrator speaks all that is on her mind in perfect, but never-to-be-said-aloud honesty. And the wonderful extended metaphor of “Under a Lamppost” made me itch and bristle with its description of betrayal and shame.
To feel both familiarity and strangeness as well as provocation and comfort all within this volume made its reading a great pleasure.
— Alex Carroll, Arts & Entertainment Editor, Asia City
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“In A Roomful of Waiting, Mida Azada’s delicious collection of poetry, we are invited to partake of a delightful assortment: ruminations on love, marriage, motherhood, literature, the writer’s life and a cigarette. One gets a sense of place of the observer, an outsider at times, but always emotionally present, and her evocative imagery sends us on our own journeys.”
— Karmel Schreyer, novelist, Naomi series
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“A collection speaking eloquently of being on the outside . . . an observation of people, of being in another culture, or even of loving when it doesn’t seem to do the heart any good. The poems speak of an observer, but of one who knows what emotions stir within the observed.”
— Inez Ponce de Leon, novelist, Sanctuary
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“There’s a seductive boldness to it… [the collection] was a testament to the emotional and spiritual dervish Mida went through, by choice or circumstance. Yet if there was anything about her that had been kept intact, it was her unrelenting urge to tell it all in the most fabulous and intriguing way possible. From the stasis of “A Room of Waiting” to the frustrations of “Manchild” and the sarcasm of the title track “Song to Prufrock,” what enthralled me overall was the sensuality—and even humor—that lingered in every piece…”
— Carlo Vergara, graphic illustrator and author, Ang Kagila-gilalas na Pakikipagsapalaran ni Zsazsa Zaturnnah
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“Azada’s poetry…speaks of a keen sense of empathy…”
— Christina Miranda, “Filipino artists: Drawing strength in numbers” – Muse Magazine