Miguel Syjuco
Miguel Syjuco
Miguel Syjucois a Filipino writer from Manila and the grand prize winner of the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize for his first novel Ilustrado...
NationalityFilipino
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth17 November 1976
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I treat my writing like a day job, like my main job, even if for many years I was doing other jobs to pay the bills. I worked as a copy editor. I was a medical guinea pig. I was an eBay power seller of ladies' handbags. I was an assistant to a bookie at the horse races. I bartended. I did anything I could to make ends meet.
cliches effective writers
Touching on universality is an important part of effective storytelling, but the problem with cliches is that they are tired and dull. And that's where writers must try to be artful.
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I have no illusions that my work can rouse the masses to create change, because literature simply doesn't have that power anymore in my country, if it does anywhere. But I do hope that it can be read by those who are in positions to create change, or that it can at least be part of that dialogue.
telling-the-truth martyr changed
History is changed by martyrs who tell the truth.
long-ago long not-alone
Clichés remind and reassure us that we're not alone, that others have trod this ground long ago.