So happy to share that the University Printing Press PUP in the Philippines will publish a climate fiction (cli-fi) anthology of essays and short cli-fi stories in December 2018

Kristine Ong Muslim in the Philippines writes:

I am so happy to share with you all that the University Printing Press PUP in the Philippines will publish the ''climate fiction'' aka cli-fi anthology I am co-editing with Mia Tijam and Paolo Enrico Melendez. The book is called ''Sigwa: A Climate Fiction Anthology from the Philippines,'' and it contains the following 4 essays and 18 (or 19) short cli-fi stories:

Expected release schedule is December 2018.

ESSAYS

“On Philippine Climate Fiction,” by Kristine Ong Muslim
“Devising Sigwa,” by Mia Tijam
“Reading Sigwa,” by Paolo Enrico Melendez
“Six Proposals for the Reform of Literature in the Age of Climate Change,” by Nick Admussen [http://criticalflame.org/six-proposals-for-the-reform-of-l…/]

STORIES

“Corporeality,” by Tilde Acuña
“Strange Things Will Happen,” by John Bengan
“Flotsam,” by Erika M. Carreon
“from Terrorium,” by Adam David
“Steal,” by Daryll Delgado
“Notes of a City Dweller,” by Roma Estrada
“Niño and Niña,” by Mo Francisco
“Odor,” by Tin Lao
“At the end of my suffering, there was a door,” by Gabriela Lee
“The Deluge,” by Maryanne Moll
“Anaw,” by Arnel Murga
“Undiscovered Waters,” by Joseph Nacino
“The Burial Jars,” by Jude Ortega
“Halimaw,” by Rae Rival
“A Long Way from Home,” by Sandra Nicole Roldan
“The Lost Seeds,” by Nash Tysmans
“The Sinking Church of Sto. Basilio,” by Lakan Umali
“100,” by Eliza Victoria

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Sigwa has several features, including short teaser texts preceding each story. 

Mia Tijam’s ‘devising’ essay is a critique of our editorial process; 

it talks about the steps and missteps in 

the creation of the anthology. 

Paolo Enrico Melendez’s ‘reading’ section, 

which is structured like a learning module, 

addresses two questions: how to effectively teach each story 

and how to get more out of each story. Cover art and

 concept will be by Adam David.

When we pitched Sigwa to the acquisition 

editor of the Polytechnic University of the 

Philippines Press, this was how we described the project:

“The proposed anthology will collect 18 stories in English, 

each containing at least 1,500 words, by Filipino writers

 who live in the Philippines, the country receiving 

the full brunt of the manifold effects of global climate change, 

as well as the country considered to be the world’s third 

worst plastic polluter of oceans. 

The proposed anthology, the first of its kind in the country, 

aims to localize climate change—one of 

Timothy Morton’s hyperobjects naturally resisting localization—

in the Philippines, where the projected sea level rise is between 

7.6 and 10.2 cm per decade even as the rest of the world gets 

pegged at 3.1 cm. Through the short fictional narrative form, 

real or imagined Philippine geographies will be explored. 

The attendant human accountability behind their destruction, 

as well as the respective shifting of moral and societal etho

s, will be examined. The proposed anthology also aims

 to subvert nonscientific, buoyant, and poignant envi

ronmental literatures, where depictions of nature 

and nonhuman animals are romanticized and gla

morized. This approach drives mass consumption

, further fueling the capitalistic machinery and ra

mpage of the Anthropocene. Nick Admussen’s s

eminal essay, “Six Proposals for the Reform of 

Literature in the Age of Climate Change,” will s

erve as rough guide to shaping the aesthetic, critical, and ethical s

ant of the anthology. Writers, whose works wil

l be commissioned for this book project, wil

l be encouraged to write about place not a

s a framing device but as an entity. They will also b

e encouraged to look at present local struggles, incl

uding militarization in mining zones where pollution, ra

mpant logging, and the displacement of indigenous peo

ples have been the longstanding norms. Material 

considerations are expected to limit the scope of 

this anthology, therefore translations from nativ

 literary forms, which are more volubly reflective o

f eco-justice struggle at the community level

, will not be included. All in all, the anthology aims to feature stories of

 compassion and militancy, of urgency and deep reflection, of the interconnectedness unde

rlying social justice, animal welfare rights, and ecological justice.”

If Sigwa: A Climate Fiction Anthology from the Philippines 

sounds like something up your alley, please give it a read. 

Expected release schedule is 

December 2018.