news from the alma mater

Thank you, my dear alma mater, Silliman University. It has been a tremendous time.

I genuinely thought this would be a mellower year. Since the beginning of 2026, I had deliberately made peace with a certain reality, which is that no matter how good and harmless your intentions are, there will always be people who usurp and twist them. And so, to avoid the headaches, I decided to let things be. Let’s try that.

But the cosmos had other plans. I was pulled in a direction I had not even considered taking. As it turns out, that direction led not to one but two sweet destinations in a short span of time. For that, I am grateful.

Recognition like the Poet of the Year at the Nick Joaquin Literary Awards from the Philippines Graphic and an opportunity like the Tulisan Nusantara Writer’s Residency in Cempedak Island, Indonesia come few and far between—especially for a queer, Bisaya millennial living in the middle of a turbulent country that remains stubbornly resistant to reckoning with generational trauma. I was told I’d be a fool not to celebrate these. They were right.

All of this reminded me of a time when I literally stopped writing for nearly three years—nothing of substance published from 2013 to 2016—because the world just felt terrible, and it was unfortunately full of terrible people. But just like this year’s gifts, there were those who reached out, ushered me toward opportunities, and pulled me back to the craft.

Sometimes, I suppose, good intentions do attract good things from the universe. They don’t always have to pave the way to hell. You don’t have to dim your light.

[ link to Silliman University's Facebook post here and link to Silliman University website's full article here ]

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#SillimanNews: Silliman University (SU) alumnus F. Jordan Carnice, a 2009 graduate of the Bachelor of Arts in English major in Creative Writing program, has marked two major literary milestones: becoming the first three-time Poet of the Year at the Nick Joaquin Literary Awards (NJLA) and being selected for a four-week international writers residency in Indonesia.

Carnice won the 2026 Poet of the Year award for his poetry suite, Three Poems Before 2025, which bested more than 200 entries. The awards ceremony was held on August 27, 2026, at the Luxent Hotel in Quezon City.

The winning suite consists of “Poreuomai,” “You Cannot Change That,” and “2024,” first published in the March 2025 issue of the Philippines Graphic Reader, the monthly literary supplement of the Philippines Graphic. Works published in the Reader automatically qualify for the annual competition.

thank you, buglas writer's guild!

Thank you once again, Buglas Writers Guild. A literary excursion to Indonesia would not have been possible without being marinated in the imagination of the Isle of Buglas.

[ link to the original post here ]

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CONGRATULATIONS! Tagbilaran/Dumaguete poet F. Jordan Carnice has been invited as the fifth resident for the Tulisan Nusantara: The Writer's Residency Program on Cempedak Island in Indonesia. Each year, published writers from across Southeast Asia are invited to spend time on the island, drawing inspiration from the natural world and the stories of the Riau Islands. During their stay, residents explore ideas connected to place, identity, and culture. Congratulations, Jordan! 

37th philippine travel mart

A lot has happened back home, blurring through my periphery, that I completely forgot to mention that my poetry chapbooks Weights & Cushions and How to Make an Accident were among the titles featured by Libraria Books at the Dumaguete City booth for the 37th Philippine Travel Mart at SMX Convention Center, Pasay City, September 4–6, 2026.

This was just one way of showcasing why Dumaguete is the country’s first and only UNESCO Creative City of Literature. Many thanks go to the wonderful people of Libraria Books and the Dumaguete City Tourism Office for the support.

It was over so quickly. Sincerest apologies to friends in Metro Manila who were looking for those copies. Thankfully, you can always message Libraria, and they would be glad to connect you with these and other Filipiniana titles, especially by authors from the Visayas.

[ more photos here ]

this saturday looks beautiful and lovely

 

[ see the original post here ]

in the news

So here’s a pre-holiday surprise gift from The Weekly Sillimanian. I honestly thought the article would come out next year.

Those are big words in that headline. But all I want (for Christmas) is to carry everything I’ve learned as a practicing writer and as a volunteer for Bohol Climate Walkers, Plastic Free Bohol, Kaliwat ni Karyapa, Bohol Arts and Cultural Heritage Council, and Center for Culture and Arts Development - Bohol into my work as a museum researcher in Dumaguete City. That includes, especially, the hope of cultivating more writing in Binisaya from my two hometowns. Considering that the paper’s writers interviewed me on two separate occasions for almost four hours, it’s understandable that some things may have been lost in translation, or that not everything could fit into a single news article.

Still, I am deeply grateful. As I shared with them, everything I do is ultimately for the public. Projects should never be born out of a personality, but out of the needs of a particular community. Happy holidays, friends and family!

[ full article can be read here ]

happy things

 Weeks earlier, I finally got to open my box of copies of the second edition of Little Things: An Anthology of Poetry, edited by Loh Chin Ee, Angelia Poon, and Esther Vincent. My poem “Poetry as a Lesson in Zoology” is republished here.

This poem first appeared in volume 39 of ANI: The Philippine Literary Yearbook of the Cultural Center of the Philippines back in 2016.

The first edition of Little Things was launched in 2013, and was organized into six sections, namely, Little Things, Growing Up, People Around Us, Going Places, Love and Loss, and On Words. 

The second edition is an expanded version that includes all the original sections and now adds a seventh section—Our Earth. This new section includes poems focused on environmental subjects. My poem found a new home in this particular section, and it’s the second from the last poem in the book. 

I still find it fascinating that my poem is in the same book that contains works by e.e. cummings, Billy Collins, Derek Walcott, Raymond Carver, Philip Larkin, W.H. Auden, Alvin Pang, and Joshua Ip. 

Both editions were printed by Ethos Books, an independent book publisher based in Singapore. 

Little Things is primarily designed as an educational text for lower secondary school Literature students, and it is curated to allow readers and students to draw connections between local and international poems dealing with related universal themes.

Little Things is available in print and e-book format. You can get your copy through this link.

[ more photos here ]

literally literary

Last Saturday, December 13, turned into a very literary kind of weekend. After revising some old poems in the morning, went to the Arts and Design Collective Dumaguete (ADCD) in the afternoon for BazArt 2025—a gathering of local artisans, creatives, and makers. Got to see the fundraiser art exhibit and the soon-to-open office of the Buglas Writers Guild. Turns out, I was one of the first two visitors.

Later that evening, had dinner with friends from the Pride Run Club and met Vince Lopez of Mugna Gallery, along with the gallery’s latest featured artist, Marvin Chito Natural. I had admired his realist works, but unfortunately, only through Facebook. He’s easily like a modern-day Amorsolo.

Chito shared that before fully committing to painting, he used to write balak—poetry in Binisaya—and asked for advice on translation and on finding his way back to writing. He then showed me some of his pieces. All I could really say was he should keep doing both writing and painting. He's really good.

After a hearty Vietnamese dinner and a calamansi liquor sorbet for dessert, spontaneously joined the poetry reading and open mic at The Shed, and read two unpublished poems I’d recently sent via text to friends—“Waterworld” and “Everything is Metaphor (or The Dolphins).” Before heading home, I slipped into a core group meeting for the third edition of the Dumaguete Literary Festival (DumaLitFest) in April 2026. We talked plans—and even dreams—for Dumaguete as the newest Creative City of Literature in UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network. 

Also mentioned to the group that it is also the right moment to lobby for a council or a provincial government arm to preserve, promote, and develop Negros Oriental’s cultural heritage and artistic talents through various programs, workshops, events, and collaborations with local and national partners, and not just for literature. This office should be separate from both city and provincial tourism offices because tourism has a different set of priorities. Just my Christmas wish. 

Thrilling times ahead. Here’s hoping we get the support we need from the people and institutions meant to help carry these projects forward.

[ more photos here ]

we're on the news for good reason

So news about the ceremony of the 2025 President Carlos P. Garcia Awards for Excellence held at the Ceremonial Hall of the Provincial Capitol of Bohol was published in The Bohol Chronicle last Sunday, November 23, 2025. Posting here for posterity. 

To the other awardees, you can get a copy of the paper at the newsstand beside Pizza Hut in BQ Mall or directly from The Bohol Chronicle / DYRD Office along B. Inting Street, Tagbilaran City.

 [ More photos here ]

essay on my poem

A breather in the middle of the suffocating week. Just learned that an essay about my poem, “The Electorate Weighs In,” is featured in Issue no. 7 of Buglas Writers Journal of the Buglas Writers Guild.

This essay first appeared in Dumaguete MetroPost (Vol. XXVI, No. 1292) for its May 18–24, 2025 issue, specifically in the paper’s City of Literature section.

The full article can be read here.

pinanlinan 2024

So many things are happening in 2025, and as much as we would love to launch it later this year, we might have to postpone it. But the work is all done.

The third edition of Pinanlinan—an anthology of winning and selected works from the participants and judges of the Tagik Poetry Writing Competition and the Kinalitkalit Flash Fiction Writing Competition held in 2024—will be coming out early next year, in 2026. This volume is co-edited by the poet Rene Eune Ponte and yours truly.⁣

Pinanlinan 2024 features poems and stories by F. Jordan Carnice, Angelli C. Closas, Ian-Jhel T. Galan, Jovanie Garay, Luigi Miguel P. Jacaban, James Sayao Japos, Ariel B. Logroño, Jason G. Madijanon, Jake Malon, Ma. Faith O. Malon, Reynaldo T. Masana, Peter Junriel M. Milana, Ardeshir Abid Morales, Shawn Michael Mutia, Argosy S. Nazareno, Mark Ken Oray, Rene Eune P. Ponte, Mary Grace C. Ramada, Yudi Santillan III, and Janice S. Tuazon.⁣

This new volume also features a stunning cover artwork by Yo Yo Cabahug, who is a member of Bohol Pop Contemporary Visual Artists Group.

Pinanlinan is led by Kaliwat ni Karyapa, with the support of the Provincial Government of Bohol, through the Center for Culture and Arts Development - Bohol and the Bohol Arts and Cultural Heritage Council - Literary Arts Committee.

 

the dead follows me to the bedroom

For All Saints’ Day, let me share a poem, “The Dead Follows Me to the Bedroom.”⁣

⁣An earlier version of this piece was part of a 14-poem suite titled “The Shape of Days” which was first published in Agwat-Hilom, an anthology produced by the National Committee on Literary Arts of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), which gathered literary works on the COVID-19 pandemic from writers across the Philippines back in 2020.⁣

⁣Five years later, pandemic or not, the losses we continue to endure, especially those fueled by mismanaged state funds, still haunt us just the same. 

surprise email from carlos

Before heading back home to Bohol later this afternoon for this year’s Undas, a special email from “Carlos” suddenly appeared in my inbox this morning…

❎ Carlos Palanca Awards

✅ Pres. Carlos P. Garcia Awards

Bokya na naman tayo this year sa Palanca, but I will gladly take this alternative. My province of Bohol has been a constant blessing in this life. Dear cosmos, family, friends, and my beloved, this is all for you.

It has always been for you. 

new poems in philippines graphic reader

So thrilled to share with you that my mini suite of poems titled "Four Poems for the Future" is now published in the July 2022 issue of Philippines Graphic Reader, the literary magazine of Philippines Graphic.

Included in this suite are the works "2022," "Nothing's Too Far," "Flower, Proposed Addendum to Definition of," and "Poem for the Future."

Exceptionally happy to see it featured on the front cover of the magazine with an illustration by Jimbo Docena Albano. Many thanks to the literary editor Marra PL Lanot and Editor-in-Chief Psyche Roxas Mendoza for graciously giving these poems a home. 

It is also heartening to be back in Philippines Graphic; my last work published within its pages was in February 2012 with the poem "How to Not Write Another Story." One could only wish more magazines—like Philippines Free Press and Story Philippines—would return to print publication, reenergized and all too welcome to feature a variety of Filipino literary voices.

The Philippines Graphic Reader can be ordered online thru the Lazada link here.

new poems and fiction in novice magazine, annual print issue no. 4

So the news is finally out. My works of poetry and prose will be published in the 4th annual print issue of Novice Magazine, a print and digital art platform that gathers creative works on emerging trends, evolving culture, and everything in between.

My poems in the magazine are "Pareidolia in Nine Haikus" and "The Definitive Abandon (or The Centipede)."

My works of prose are the flash fiction entries "The Price We Pay," "It Is More Infinite in Silence," and "Dear Reader."

Excited to see these written works alongside the most exciting art from Filipino creatives to date. This is the first time in a long while that I'll have this much work printed in one publication. I hope you can get a copy. Details to be announced soon.

[ photos borrowed from Novice Magazine's Facebook page ]

new poems published in katitikan

Two of my poems—“Cleaning the Attic” and “Sky Over Cairns”—are in the second issue of Katitikan, the Literary Journal of the Philippine South.

This latest edition, which is now live and can be viewed here, taps on the theme of “Space and Place.” Today’s Leap Day is not that bad after all.

new poem for the holidays in the sunday times magazine

Happy holidays, my loves! My poem “The Walk Toward Home on a Holiday Season” is published today in The Sunday Times Magazine (22 December 2019), the magazine supplement of The Manila Times newspaper. This will be my Christmas treat for you!

You can buy the paper at your nearest newsstands and bookstores. Here is a link to the poem in case you can’t get a physical copy.

how to make an accident

A passerby stopped by the table, paused, and asked me, how are we supposed to create an accident? Is it even still an accident? I said, it is for you to find out within its pages.

How to Make an Accident is my second collection of poems. Just leave a message if you want to get a copy.

my latest poem published in the sunday times magazine

I just got a new poem, "The Wait at the Doctor's Clinic," recently published in The Sunday Times Magazine (10 November 2019), the magazine supplement of The Manila Times newspaper. So happy this made print; I literally wrote this while I waited for my turn at the doctor's clinic.

It is also available online. Here is a link to the poem.

agi: the pathways for our literature

Words are among our simplest of comforts, but when wielded differently, these are also a source of division and displeasure. That is why, in the recent Agi Creative Writing Workshop—organized by Kaliwat ni Karyapa (KaKa) writers collective, with the support of the Center for Culture and Arts Development of the provincial government of Bohol—these things were held to a higher standard, handled with a master’s care.

Patterned after the country’s major writers’ workshops, where a panel of distinguished literary artists dissects and studies the participants’ submitted works, Agi is the first of its kind in the province, gathering practicing and emerging writers from different parts of Bohol. The term agi is a Bol-anon word for “handwriting” and “to get through.”

The writing fellows are Cathleen Grace B. Dahiroc, Marlene G. Estorosas, Mae Tiffany O. Gallendez, Donita Jeanne Gervacio, Karla Jane Gonser, Anne Genelou D. Hangad, Vanessa Jane Jumoc, Lucell Larawan, Carlo Christopher A. Lelis, Karen Lara M. Libot, Ariel B. Logroño, Mary Rose D. Morales, Ruvyne Gayle A. Nagal, Ruby Angeline A. Pring, John Harvey Reforeal, Ronald T. Salada, and Venice Alyzza L. Ugay, along with two members of KaKa, Dandreb James Arro and Amor Maria J. Vistal.

The workshop sessions began on May 25 at Reyna’s The Haven and Gardens Hotel, where the first order of business was poetry. The panelists for the day were poets F. Jordan Carnice, Paul Joseph Vistal, and Palanca award winners Rene Eune “Coy” P. Ponte and Noel “Roy” P. Tuazon.

Since the fellows were a mix of high school students, working millennials and long-employed professionals who reacquainted themselves with their love for writing, the panelists balanced their critiques by pulling the hardest punches, but still aiming for sharp but necessary tough-love advice.

Criticism is never meant to discourage, but everyone needs to know what can be improved and what should be disposed. For poetry, this includes growing out of comfort zones: to kill your darlings when lines sounded beautiful but gratuitous; to break out of traditional rhyming schemes that constrict, rather than uplift, the poem’s intent; to stop mimicking Hallmark greeting card poetry and Instagram aphorisms by setting aside Lang Leav, Rupi Kaur or Wattpad and then venturing to other literatures; and above all, to read, read, read more works, especially by local writers.

There was also the dialogue on allusions and central metaphors, heightened language that ushers the reader to insight, ekphrastic poetry, sexism in writing in the 21st century, enjambments and caesura, brevity versus excess, and many others. The standout that day was some of the balak, Visayan works of poetry that were clearly more Bol-anon than Cebuano, capturing the sensibilities of one’s culture and strength of the native tongue.

May 26 was dedicated to prose works, covering both fiction and creative nonfiction. The workshop was moved to the new Bohol Provincial Capitol near CPG Park, where everybody endured the indoor heat due to the absence of electricity in the building. This only added to the unease of the writing fellows who were at the receiving end of more heated discussions. Luckily, power returned just before lunch. The main panelists for this day were overall workshop coordinator Liza Macalandag and Bonifacio Quirog Jr., along with Carnice, Vistal, Ponte and Tuazon.

Although nothing is truly original, since an idea is a reflection of reality or response to another idea, the critiques still touched on inventiveness and demands of narrative, requiring the fellows to ask themselves these: What does “show, don’t tell” mean? What makes this narrator’s point of view distinctive, but still relatable? How do I avoid becoming didactic, but still driving home the point?

The temptations of purple prose, the wasted opportunities of going back to heritage for story material, and the phallic undertones (or overreadings?) of some of the pieces were among those that animated the discussions. In the end, whether the story is sci-fi, horror, a recording of personal angst or an excerpt of a longer memoir, the consensus for any literary work is that substance should always trump form. The skeleton needs organs and muscles for the body to move.

After the workshop sessions, the panelists were impressed that, despite of the unsavory words that came with the praises, nobody among the fellows cried or left the room in a fury, unlike many of the panelists’ past workshop experiences. But when they were asked to share their thoughts about the workshop, tears were shed. They agreed that this two-day fellowship was an opportunity too rare for anyone to pass, especially in Bohol, and they were beyond grateful that they were gifted with the space to identify themselves with another writer, to unload questions they were fearful to ask (ironically) in classrooms, and to refine their craft while getting the chance to connect with other literary artists in the province.

This response proves that there is a desire for a community of writers in Bohol, that there is passion for writing and critical thinking despite the constant assault of misinformation these days. There are already several writers workshops held annually in the country, serving as major rites of passage for aspiring writers, but they are mostly outside of Bohol — the Silliman University National Writers Workshop in Dumaguete City, the IYAS Creative Writing Workshop in Bacolod City, the Iligan National Writers Workshop and the many university-led workshops in Manila, to name a few.

Finally, Bohol has the Agi Creative Writing Workshop, a gathering everybody hopes would be institutionalized and reach its golden anniversary in the future. Because, like reading, writing must never end. Writing our literatures is fundamental because, no matter the place, it is a way of memorializing (and learning from) our nation’s traumas and triumphs.

But Agi is not just about writing and establishing one’s penmanship in the country’s many literary expressions. It is about creating pathways for new writers and tirelessly following the journey of history and heritage of a people. And based on the direction this workshop is going, it is on the right track.



[ this article is published in The Sunday Times Magazine of The Manila Times on June 9, 2019 and an abridged version is published in The Bohol Chronicle on June 2, 2019 ].

birth month

The Two-Headed Calf
Laura Gilpin


Tomorrow when the farm boys find this
freak of nature, they will wrap his body
in newspaper and carry him to the museum.

But tonight he is alive and in the north
field with his mother. It is a perfect
summer evening: the moon rising over
the orchard, the wind in the grass. And
as he stares into the sky, there are
twice as many stars as usual.


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I am drawn to this poem by Laura Gilpin again and again in the past few days and I still couldn’t prevent myself from being pierced by what it is trying to convey. This is one of the few poems that has the same effect on me as “Allowables” by Nikki Giovanni and “The Diameter of the Bomb” by Yehuda Amichai did when I first read them. It just leaves me like a massive wreck, my nose stuffy and my eyes puffy.


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Perhaps the reason why I gravitate to this poem lately is that there is this one revelation last year, in 2018, that keep recurring to me in the present. It is the shock of finding out, as I was cleaning my contact list on Facebook, that a person—a person who is once close to me—now has a profile that is labeled “Legacy Contact.” The term meant a person has passed away.

The information came to me in 2018. The actual person left three years prior. The thought bothered me the past few days because, on the year of the person’s departure, I received a message from this person and I chose to ignore it. It was a one-worded message: “Fred.” It was like a call, it sounded like a concern, or an opening to a confession that needed attention, but I kept silent for reasons that were deemed appropriate during that time.

Today I wonder what would have been our conversations like if I had responded to the message. I will never know.


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I didn’t give it much thought until recently, when I had been to several birthday gatherings of friends and family in just two weeks, that I realized this month, March, is my birth month. Yes, I am turning a year older in a couple of days. How fleeting time is, right? How short-lived the days could get when you fill them with distractions in an effort to finally say you accomplish something right in your life.

So this begs the question: Is this all there is to it?

Will there be another time in this repetitive existence when we (both) look up into our respective skies and see there are twice as many stars, as usual, and feel everything is all right? Still all right? One could only hope so.