[A.M. Azada] A Roomful of Waiting and Other Pieces

I am excited about my forthcoming upgrade lecture. I hope things bode well. Feb 8, 2012. Please pray for me. Thank you.

Free admission. All are welcome!

1. Cataclysmal Conversations: Tell-All Poems, Tell-Tale Music and a One-Act Play
Thursday, 28 July 2011 – 7:00-8:30 pm
Black Soup Cafe + Art Space
154 Maginhawa Street, Sikatuna Village, Quezon City

2. Interim Scenes in Cataclysmal Conversations:
Elegies, Apostrophes and Tolerable Rhapsodies with ‘Connexion’ (a one-act play)
Friday, 29 July 2011 – 7:00-9:00 pm
VENUE: TBC
Information: lopro@lycos.com

3. ‘What to Do with a Public Library’
– a talk chronicling 20 years of active bibliophilia in a public space
Quezon City Public Library
Quezon City Hall
Date and Time: TBC
RSVP: lopro@lycos.com

4. Not a Reprise…More Cataclysmal Conversations:
New Poems and a Staged Reading of ‘Gale’ (a one-act play)
Part of the Conspiwriters Series on Tuesdays
Tuesday, 2 August 2011 – 7:00-8:30 pm
Conspiracy Garden Cafe
59 Visayas Avenue, Quezon City

5. Female Corporeality and Childbirth in the English Romantic Period
– working papers
Wednesday, 3 August 2011 – 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
2/F Gonzalez Hall, Main Library
The University of the Philippines
Diliman, Quezon City
RSVP: lopro@lycos.com (as seating can be limited at certain hours)

It is such a difficult experience to go on with one’s normal life in public while worrying about people in one’s home region whose lives are at the mercy of natural forces…and there’s nothing one can do about it except hope and pray. The super-tsunami has entered Philippine territory; my father lives in Davao.

Thank you for your kind thoughts and prayers.

I am in the middle of writing a chapter consisting of some 7,000 words of mine and 3,000 words from references. This 10,000 word chapter is meant to be my upgrade paper. Besides this, I need to finish a report about my progress and an outline of the chapters of my dissertation (US)/thesis (UK).

After which, perhaps in July before the summer holidays, I might be scheduled for another talk.

All this sounds daunting, but I’ve lived with two ideas that seem to have worked since I was a kid:

a. Work hard – finish what you’ve started; and

b. You don’t choose a book; the book ‘chooses’ you.

I know I wouldn’t be in London if it weren’t for these two personal directives. The drive behind the first statement is self-explanatory; this is how we get things done. The second, however, is how I manage to spot interesting passages which I can somehow explain while the thought is being illuminated to me as I read. Such practices can take a lot of time, as opposed to locating passages actively. The thing is: if we’re looking for parts and passages that have never been quoted or noticed by anyone else before, we need to feel as relaxed as possible upon reading. Why? Only then will the words that matter–the words that ring true to you, the singular reader–jump out and tell you to take notice.

Locating information and relevant parts in reading material is an initial requirement, but the kind of ‘illumination’ that comes with the great ‘Ah, I see!’ and sudden realisation that something that you didn’t notice before is worth noticing at this moment is what we try to achieve each time we write papers for PhD work.

It seems daunting at this stage. It does.

This is the place I call Heaven.

And this is another place where I feel welcome.

I look forward to signing up for research groups and associations, as well as renewing my membership with my old favourite, IGA.

It looks like we’re going to be busy till 2011. Here’s my share of conferences to attend. Some may include presentations.

For a recent presentation, click here for a video. Pardon the momentary technical difficulty.

I think Tori Amos’ latest hit Welcome to England is my theme song for the year. Last year, I was fortunate enough to win a research grant to commence PhD studies at Roehampton University. After six months, I’m ready to move to London, probably my favourite city in the world.

Follow me and my adventures in London on Twitter and Multiply. Some of my written work this year will be featured at the 17th International Conference on Learning in Hong Kong, in Inside DB and in a publication in Manila which I cannot mention just yet.

Get a copy of the book on Amazon.com for US$ 12.80 in time for the holidays! Click here!

I’ve uploaded my musical compositions on a MySpace page here. Enjoy your visit!

Come join Filipino writers, poets, journalists, editors, publishers, artists, media professionals, performers, actors and their friends to a reading of Jose Rizal’s NOLI ME TANGERE. 

When: Saturday, 20 June 2009 – 2 pm onwards
Where: 2/F The Peak Galleria, beside the view-deck staircase

Admission is free.

SMS 6712 7319 for more information or post a message below, please.

Part of the 4th Philippine Arts Festival in Hong Kong. More information here.