Babayeng Sugid/Cebu Stories

CEBU, Philippines - The woman's voice, even in life's clutter, is a quiet voice.

Says Erma Cuizon, founding chairperson of the Women in Literary Arts, you don't hear it from a woman when she speaks aloud in reaction to day-to-day living, but the voice is there when she tells a story and speaks with her heart in quiet space.

"It's with her heart that she tells stories. It's like her putting a plant inside the house, like letting some stones enter, too, some chosen earth in a pot come in, as nature is part of her. Then the reader can listen to her breathe. That's the woman telling a story," she said in the Preface of the book and in her opening remarks during the launch last May 16 at the Cebu Normal University.

Published by Anvil, WILA's first purely fiction anthology is entitled "Babayeng Sugid/Cebu Stories - a mix of English and Cebuano stories collected from among workshop entries and long or summary executions.

According to Dr. Erlinda Alburo, one of two editors (the other being Cuizon), some entries are easily given labels, but most are in shifting categories of theme and mode.

"Six of the ten short stories that we call 'flash fiction' and at least one longer piece entitled 'Conversion' by Kei Valmoria start with the line "Shall we see each other again?," she said in the Introduction of the book.

The line, which expresses the need to connect with another, opens Annabelle Tan-Amor's "Once Upon a Rain, Erma Cuizon's "Short Love", Hi-D Palapar's "Kalachuchi", Karla Quimsing's "Memory," Dr. Hope Yu's "Love on the Run," and Dr. Alburo's "Antulanga."

This anthology of creative writing in Cebuano (note: no English translation provided) and English by members of the WILA, the only women writers' organization in the country, showcases different themes, different voices, and most importantly, the woman's touch.

The rest of the contributors include Kaira Zoe Alburo, Liza Baccay, Jiji Borlasa, Charmaine Carreon, Ma. Milagros Dumdum, Chairmaine Rallon-Fajardo, Jeneen Garcia, Vera Leigh Lasam, Delora Sales-Simbajon, Gloria Sommer, Ester Tapia, Lilia Tio, Cindy Velasquez, and Dindin Villarino.

Priced at P350 a copy, the 159-page book is available at all National Bookstore outlets.  (FREEMAN)