The Margins presents “Osipon,” a folio of poetry, short fiction, and literary criticism from the Bikol region of the Philippines. The folio takes its name from the precolonial Bikol oral narrative osipon, and each of the six pieces of literature extends and subverts its meanings, giving continuous life to the form. As guest editor Kristian Sendon Cordero writes in his editor’s note, osipon is “our way of revealing, of complaining, of reprimanding, of shouting, of teasing… [our] storytelling is a promise.”
Lumuwas ika o magraan dagos |
Get out of the ring, or you’ll die in pain
A writer contends with the legacy of a difficult, much-hated local woman who was also a giant of Philippine letters.
Nagugustuhan mo palan an ugali ni Polding, ay ngata naman ta si Don Lope pa an saimong pinanugaan na pakakasalan? |
If it’s Polding’s character that you like, why did you pledge to marry Don Lope?
Hanggang sa maging desperado, sasayaw at mag-aalay ng itlog kay Sta. Clara sa Obando, magdadasal sa iba pang Santa at Birhen, maglalakad nang paluhod sa simbahan ng Quiapo at Baclaran. | Desperation sets in, and they dance and offer eggs to Santa Clara in Obando, walk on their knees inside the Quiapo and Baclaran shrines.
Ang babae sa osipon ni Ana T. Calixto |
The woman in Ana T. Calixto’s osipon
Our guest editor introduces our folio Osipon
Asian American Writers’ Workshop
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