Here are the 20 stories in the collection:
1. Subterrania
2. Visitors
3. It's Not Me
4. Little Fears
5. Passengers
6. Knowledge
7. Afterlife with Astrid
8. More Than I Ever Wanted Anything
9. Silences
10. Day Devoid
11. Tell the Sky
12. The Girl on the Bus
13. We Built This Robot
14. The Editorial Meeting
15. Tell Me Do, Something True
16. Robot Boy and Hepa
17. Sabado, 1995
18. Planetarium
19. And You Tell Me '87
20. Dear Distance
About the Author (from the book):
Luis Joaquin M. Katigbak (26 July 1974 - 20 April 2016) was the author of The King of Nothing to Do (Milflores Publishing, 2006), a collection of essays, and Happy Endings (University of the Philippines Press, 2006), a collection of short stories. Both were nominated for National Book Awards by the Manila Critics Circle. He won numerous honors for his writing, including four Palanca Awards, a Philippine Graphic Prize, and a Young Artists' Grant from the NCCA.
Luis worked in TV and advertising, and taught creative writing at the University of the Philippines. He was associate editor for Esquire Philippines from 2011-2015, and was also a well-known music critic. He wrote a weekly column for the Philippine Star, called "Senses Working Overtime".
Luis was hospitalized in December 2015 for complications from diabetes, and passed away on April 20, 2016 at the age of 41, shortly after the publication of Dear Distance.
At the end of the book, Katigbak wrote a section called "Some Notes on the Stories" where he talks about his inspirations for the stories in the collection. Here's that section:
Some of these stories were sparked by sights or sounds by other people, some of them approach the character of collaborations.
"Visitors" was inspired by an exhibit by Gabby Barredo; "Tell the Sky" was inspired by the work of Yvonne Quisimbing; "Little Fears" by the photographs of Frankie Callaghan. I asked Noelle Pico to dash off some lyrics to suit the lost fictional '80s rock star of "More Than I Ever Wanted Anything". "Tell Me Do..." was inspired by an illustration by Dave Yogore. "It's Not Me" was inspired by the album Identity Theft, by the band Drip (Beng Calma, Ian Magbanua, Malek Lopez, Caliph8, and Mark Laccay, at the time). "Sabado, 1995" was inspired by the Eraserheads song "Sabado" and "1995", and the '90s in general.
Many of these stories drew more directly from personal occurrences, from my life, and the lives of loved ones. If you know me in real life, you may recognize an incident or anecdote here and there. For everything borrowed without permission, you have my utmost gratitude, and, where appropriate, my sheepish apologies.
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| Dear Distance: Stories by Luis Joaquin . Katigbak |
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| Dear Distance: Stories by Luis Joaquin . Katigbak |
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| Dear Distance: Stories by Luis Joaquin . Katigbak |
