Neil Gaiman and Fully Booked to launch Philippine Graphic Fiction Awards Anthology

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Neil Gaiman and Fully Booked to launch Philippine Graphic Fiction Awards Anthology

Fully Booked is bringing multi-awarded and best-selling author Neil Gaimanto to Manila to launch the Philippine Graphic Fiction Awards Anthology, a compilation of winning entries from the contest’s first three award seasons.

Neil Gaiman and Fully Booked initiated the “Philippine Graphic Fiction Awards” in 2005, after Gaiman visited the country for the first time. During that visit Gaiman and Fully Booked decided to help spur the growth of unrealistic fiction in the country, after the author realized that “there is already a fine tradition of realistic fiction in Filipino literature.”

The Anthology will be launched on March 17, 2010 in Makati City. The book will contain all the winning entries from Year 1 to Year 3 of the Awards.

Gaiman will be in Manila for the third time, from March 17 to 18, to attend the book launch and award the winners of the 3rd Philippine Graphic Fiction Awards.

Gaiman will also hold a book-signing event on March 18 for anyone who will purchase P2000 worth of Neil Gaiman books from Feb 27 to March 4, 2010 at any Fully Booked branch in Luzon.

Fully Booked branches in Luzon are located in Bonifacio High Street, Rockwell, Greenhills, Gateway, Mall of Asia, North Edsa, EDSA Shangri-La, Trinoma, Greenbelt 5, Eastwood Mall, Marquee and SM Clark

Below are some excerpts from the anthology, from the Year 2 winners of the prose fiction category:

1ST PLACE - "LOGOVORE" by Joseph Nacino

"He lives on words.

Literally, he eats them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Sometimes he has them for snacks, too.

For example, the word 'effervescent' is a tasty morsel a bit on the spicy side with a light tinge of sweetness. Or the words 'cavalcade' and 'arboretum'

are good together, the saltiness of the former combining well with the basil after-taste of the latter. He loves the feel of words on his tongue before he swallows them."

2nd Place – TIE

"The Sugilanon of Epifania's Heartbreak" by Ian Casocot

"She went away and filled every lamp with her oil, and soon the house was bright with a strange orange glow.

It must have been magic that magnified the lamplight that night. They lasted through the night, and into the morning, and when dawn came, Old Woman Intan woke up to extinguish the lamps, but found that no matter how much she tried, and no matter how much air she blew from her lungs, the flames would not die."

"The Bridge" by Yvette Natalie Tan

"There was no question about who she was; her signature bouffant and butterfly sleeves were clearly outlined by a soft glow. The air around her seemed to shimmer, as if she was giving off heat. A light blue cord grew out of her forehead and trailed after her, shining and waving in its own breeze. I saw it extend over the rooftops, disappear into the darkness."

3rd Place -- "Juan Perez's Corpse" by Erin Chupeco

"For his part, Juan Perez had no idea why his family residence was turning into some sort of madhouse. His perpetually open eyes swiveled back and forth, from neighbor to neighbor, and then cocking a head to one side, attempting to hear what the noise outside was all about and hearing nothing about a murmur - his left ear had dropped off, and was lying forlornly on the floor."

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About Neil Gaiman

Bestselling author Neil Gaiman has long been one of the top writers in modern comics, as well as writing books for readers of all ages. He is listed in the Dictionary of Literary Biography as one of the top ten living post-modern writers, and is a prolific creator of works of prose, poetry, film, journalism, comics, song lyrics, and drama.

Gaiman is best known as the creator/writer of cult DC Comics horror-weird series, Sandman, which won nine Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, including the award for best writer four times, and three Harvey Awards.