MIGUEL Syjuco answers International School Manila students’ questions about “Ilustrado,” fiction writing and freelance journalism. Robert Butcher/Contributor
Man Asian Prize-winning writer Miguel Syjuco, author of “Ilustrado,” recently visited International School Manila (ISM) and conducted a question-and-answer session with the students.
A former freelance journalist, Syjuco met with students studying “Ilustrado” and ISM’s aspiring journalists and creative writers.
There was also an exclusive reading of excerpts from Syjuco’s soon-to-be published novel “I Was the President’s Mistress.”
ISM head of English Robert Butcher said “Ilustrado” was added to the school’s curriculum to include “Filipino voices that speak to our international brand of the Filipino experience.”
“Ilustrado” was also selected as it depicts a Philippines that ISM students would recognize in the landscape around them every day.
While they were confronted with some harsh realities in the book, the students also enjoyed Syjuco’s sense of humor—ISM itself was the subject of at least one of the jokes in the book.
Once “Ilustrado” was included in the school curriculum, Butcher contacted Syjuco to ask if he would visit the school and share ideas and perspectives on the book, as well as inspire aspiring writers and journalists.
Syjuco welcomed the invitation, saying, “I’m always trying to become a better writer and writing is about communicating with people—not just having a one-sided conversation.”
He said the opportunity to “meet students and teachers who have read [my] work” and “learn from all these people who have engaged with [my] writing” greatly motivated him “because when you write something, you’re optimistic that what you’re attempting to do works. And to hear from students who have studied it, taken it apart, debated and discussed it, to hear that those things did work is very encouraging.”
Syjuco said the best moment of his visit was “when [I] first sat in on
Mr. Butcher’s class” and “just listened to everybody speak about ‘Ilustrado,’ debate it, discuss it and share their interpretations with each other.”
He added, “If writing is a conversation, then it was really interesting to see how my contribution to the conversation spurred further conversation.”
He said he specially appreciated the “creative artifacts” students created to communicate their ideas on “Ilustrado.”
“It was wonderful. It made my work seem so real,” the writer said.
One of the most interesting interpretations he heard from the students, he said, was when a student asked if the colors of the sky and stars, in the scene where stars were falling, were supposed to symbolize the Philippine flag.
“I guess the most interesting interpretation sometimes is when they see symbols or metaphors or ideas that perhaps I didn’t quite mean—that I only executed intuitively or accidentally.”
The ISM students found the visit inspirational and motivational, as Syjuco opened up easily not only about his perspectives on “Ilustrado” but also about his ideas, beliefs, transformative life experiences and arduous journey to success as a full-time novelist.
Junior Angelo Manaloto said, “I think Syjuco’s visit to ISM … provided the student body with the opportunity to reflect upon their interpretations of the book with its author. There’s just something about putting a face to the words on the page that makes you realize how literature is more about ‘ideas’ and not just the ‘ideas of an individual’ per se. I think his visit drew attention to the fact that literature is more about how we give meaning to the words on the page and how it’s not really a one-sided exchange but an infinite avenue of interpretation.”
Syjuco’s visit to ISM was so successful that he and the school administrators explored the idea of making his interaction with students an annual event to keep the learning experience alive.
Aparna Mohan and Ysabel Ayala are students at International School Manila.