A writer's note for kids who read rarely
by Kristine Servando, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak 05/18/2009
In a generation when children opt to watch television or play computer games, it is sometimes hard to tempt youngsters to read an entire book for leisure. But for this country's first two-time Romeo Forbes Children's Storywriting Competition winner, getting children to read again is a lifetime labor of love.
A budding fictionist, illustrator, and producer at the ripe age of 39, Fernando Gonzalez said it is one of his passions to make children, including his own, love reading books.
"Gusto ko makatulong sa mga bata na maging reader. Kasi yung mga bata sa panahon ngayon, hindi sila ganun ka-avid na reader," he said. "I want them to learn the stuff that will make their imaginations work because the most fulfilling thing that you can do is to help them express their creative ideas."
In his latest grand prize-winning entry in one of the most prestigious children's writing competitions, Gonzalez's ideal childlike imagination comes alive in a character named Kikoy, a mischievous and playful young boy in the Spanish era.
He is tasked by a priest to guard several bamboo poles buried beneath the soil near the seashore. Every day, Kikoy hears music coming from beneath the ground, which seems at once curious and wonderful.
His story titled "Mga Huni sa Loob Ng Kawayan" (literally meaning chirping inside bamboo) is both a tribute to the Las Piñas Bamboo Organ, considered a national heritage, and a way to capture a child's interest in learning about nuggets of Philippine history.
"When I write, I see to it that my readers ay makakapulot ng kahit maliit na bagay lang, that legacy of giving something sensible or marangal. As a writer, you have a social responsibility to make this world a better place to live in," he said.
The story, which he considers his favorite work, was inspired by his own experience squeezing into the claustrophobic space behind the Las Piñas Bamboo Organ. He said the story was already written in his mind years prior to the Romeo Forbes contest.
After eight drafts and much research, the story was polished to match the contest's requirements. Contestants are asked to write stories based on the contest piece. For 2009, it was a painting by Juanito Torres of several young boys in Katipunero-esque gear with their swords raised in the air.
As Gonzalez's prize after winning in April 2009, he was given P35,000 and his story will be published next year into a full-color book (both in English and Filipino) by the Center for Art, New Ventures and Sustainable Development or CANVAS, and the University of Santo Tomas press.
Big breakPrior to this, his first ever winning entry to the 2008 Romeo Forbes Children's Storywriting Competition, "Ang Batang Maraming Bawal," was written while he was at the hospital, awaiting the birth of his second child Ivan Zion.
"My wife was in labor for 22 hours. We were in a hospital room, waiting, and I saw a bunch of newspapers, mostly back issues. On one of them, I saw a call for entries for the Romeo Forbes competition. So that I wouldn't be bored, I started writing and walking around the hospital," he said.
"Then I saw a poster about Newborn Screening, showing a child who wasn't screened and grew up slightly retarded. Then I thought, what are their lives like, what can they do with their lives?" he recounted.
In his winning piece, Gonzalez wrote about a sickly boy, much like the author himself as a child, whose wild imagination took him all over the Philippines in his effort to transcend the confines of his bed. The main character is suffering from a blood disease and has to put up with many restrictions to ensure his safety, something he thinks diseased children can relate to.
"I have many friends with children who have leukemia or who got sick at a very young age. One of them, Gwen, my godfather's daughter, was one of my biggest inspirations. It's about coping and and teaching you how to rise above your difficulties. It's about the power of the mind," he said.
Although he had previously won some acclaim in other writing competitions, Gonzalez said he considers this victory as his "biggest break" into the children's storywriting world.
"I was a total unknown, and I was so surprised that I won. This is meaningful because this is my first children's story book. Although I've published children's stories before, they were not published as books, only in magazines," he said, proudly showing off a hard-cover copy of "Ang Batang Maraming Bawal," tastefully illustrated by Rodel Tapaya.
"My family bought a lot of copies to distribute to friends. Mahal kasi eh. Even I can't afford my book," he quipped.
Artistic rootsBeing named after National Artist Fernando Amorsolo, born to a painter father (Serafin "Sergon" Gonzalez), and being part of a brood of 5 artistically-inclined siblings, perhaps this was a fitting start to what would be a voraciously artistic life. He grew up in Quezon City then later moved to Las Piñas, where he is based to this day.
From a very young age, it was clear that Gonzalez had a flair for story-telling. He recounts how, at the age of 6 or 7, he would already direct fantastical stage plays starring his friends. "We would make our aunts and uncles watch, and even sold them makeshift tickets for 10 cents. We would record our sounds on a cassette tape then read from a script," he said.
Gonzalez said he always liked stories with a whimsical aspect, a tendency heavily influenced by his frequent trips to the theater to watch Disney films in the mid-1970s. One of his earliest stage plays was about a magical umbrella, probably inspired by the hit musical "Mary Poppins."
An inkling of his potentials as a poet, meanwhile, was sparked when his 5th grade teacher accused him of plagiarizing a poem submission, thinking that it was far too advanced material for an 11-year-old boy. "She announced this in front of the whole class. For a 5th grader, this was very painful. But thinking about it now, I just say 'Ah! She was fooled,'" he said.
As a schoolboy, he would keep on joining writing contests, some of which he won. However, Gonzalez, confessed that when he was young, he had not always wanted to be a writer, but a painter like his father.
"I guess later on I thought, I wanted to be a story-teller. It didn't matter what field I was in, be it film, or something, because you're still telling stories," he said.
Dream projectsIn his professional life, Gonzalez said he has had his fair share of wins and losses after joining literary contests countless times, from the Palanca Awards to the Salanga Prize, in a myriad of categories from screenplay writing to "text message poetry."
His road to becoming an acclaimed children's story writer was a long one. His first job was as a music teacher at the Yamaha School of Music in Las Piñas, after opting not to finish his piano degree at the University of the Philippines-Diliman Conservatory of Music. He finished his piano level at the Cathedral of Praise, where he would head musical productions and arrangements.
Later on, he delved into TV production and scriptwriting at a Makati-based multi-media company Beginnings at Twenty Plus Inc. where he handles programming of two channels. He had held positions as a subtitlist (putting in English subtitles to Filipino films and Filipino subtitles to American films) as well as a creative director.
He has also illustrated and produced several segments of the "Alamat Series" on "Pilipino Klasiks" aired on Destiny Cable. Gonzalez has also published several Filipino novelettes and is editor-in-chief of a magazine geared towards overseas Filipino workers.
It is only in his spare time, Gonzalez said, when he gets to unleash the children's story author in him to the fullest. "Every weekend, I make it a point to sit down and write at least one page because as a writer you have to be disciplined. But yung nakaka-stress kasi yung gabing-gabi na and may naiisip ka pa."
The story of a struggling writer working a day job--sometimes completely unrelated to their craft--is the story of many of Gonzalez's peers in the industry and from the country's premiere writer's group for children, Kwentista ng mga Tsikiting (KUTING), which he joined in 2006.
"It's a dream to be able to write full-time, to work from home and live off your royalties. But I think that's not possible in the Philippines. We all have day jobs, we're just doing this as a vocation or a hobby. But sometimes I think 'Ano ba talaga gusto mo gawin?' I want to create more books and leave a legacy for generations to come," he said.
Child at heartA self-taught writer, Gonzalez said he has devoted much of his time in improving his craft by signing up for short writing courses online or applying for writing felllowships like the 2008 6th Barlaya Writing for Young Adults Workshop.
To encourage his writing, his mother and his wife had dedicated portions of their home as his writing nook, where he is reportedly often seen crying. "Umiiyak kasi ako talaga pag nakakaiyak yung story na sinusulat ko. My wife laughs at me but I don't mind. I have to convince myself first [about my story's capacity to stir emotions] before I can convince others," he said.
His wife, Josephine Añonuevo, also serves as his personal editor and critic, deftly providing advice on Filipino words to use in his stories.
To keep up with his fertile mind, Gonzalez has taken to scribbling hundreds of story ideas into notebooks or keeping a note of it on his cellular phone. To date, the author has come up with many piquing titles for children's stories including "Ssssh! Huwag Daw Kami Maingay" or "Nang Maubusan ng Kwento si Tatay," each yet to be written.
He said his children, 8-year-old Tiara Ysabelle and 3-year-old Ivan, provide him with constant inspiration (and pressure) to come up with more and more stories each day. Even the most mundane objects can inspire something in him, from the insistent prodding of his daughter, who orders him to tell her two unique bedtime stories a day.
"I told her story about an electric fan that wanted to become an airconditioner. One time, I saw my son coughing, then I saw that he wasn't wearing a 'bimpo' (a baby towel used to keep children's backs dry). I said, maybe his sweat dried on his shirt, and he caught a cold. Then I got inspired and made a story about the 'bimpo' which I am currently submitting to publishing houses," he said.
In his story titled "Bimpo," a young boy's well-worn towel starts feeling slighted after it notices that friends and family only complement the boy's clothes at parties. It also starts to feel inferior to cleaner and newer clothes on the clothesline. But after the boy forgets to bring it along with him on a field trip, the filthy towel then realizes its importance.
His eldest, Belle, has even started to show signs of taking after her father, writing and illustrating one-page stories of her own. In one case, she scribbled a story called "The Legent (sic) of the Sand" on bond paper, embellishing it with illustrations of her own using crayon and markers.
Late bloomerWith a writing record under his belt, Gonzalez is now setting his sights on what he calls his "dream project": to make a children's book or a film about Filipino values which can win international acclaim.
Pushing 40 years old, Gonzalez is quick to admit that although he has come so far already, he still has a long way to go on the road to fame and writing glory. "I feel like since I was in Grade 5 up to this time, ang tagal ko nagsimula. Then it is only now that my career in children's writing is taking off. I'm a later bloomer, so I still have to learn and unlearn a few things in writing and making stories," he said.
However, Gonzalez said he has no fear because the story of his life is to live on dreams. "I will write and write. What matters is, what I write can be read by children. What I only want is to offer a story to the world that my own children can be proud of," he said.
You can read the online article
here.(Special thanks to Kristine Servando and David Dizon of abs-cbn online.) Labels: ang batang maraming bawal, books, canvas, children's literature, kuting, mga huni sa loob ng kawayan, mi familia, moi, romeo forbes literary prize, writing