I spoke with poet and professor Paolo Manalo about how he makes words happen. It turns out writing fiction is a kinda different from writing poetry, who knew? If you love words, you’ll enjoy this episode.

Paolo Manalo’s first collection Jolography (2003) received recognition from the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature and the UP Diliman Gawad Chancellor. It will be re-issued in a Retconned edition by UP Press this 2019. Manalo has received fellowships from the UP National Writers Workshop, the Taboan Writers Festival, and the MacDowell Colony. He teaches English, literature, and creative writing at UP-Diliman.

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Show Notes

00:00:15 - Welcome/Intro00:01:02 - Why this episode is late00:05:20 - Introducing our guest Paolo Manalo00:06:00 - Productivity in poetry writing— is that even a thing?00:07:21 - Our venue: Agico Cafe (#8 Missouri Street, Northeast Greenhills, San Juan City)00:09:23 - Coffee is life (tea is okay too)00:10:10 - Start of interview 00:10:54 - What we’re drinking00:12:15 - That Ann Wigmore quote00:13:35 - Paolo’s new book pamphlet E is for Epal00:14:00 - Paolo’s first poetry collection Jolography was published 15 years ago00:14:39 - What even is an EP 00:14:52 - Paolo’s soon-to-be-released poetry collection00:16:14 - An ultimatum by your friends — best productivity hack maybe?00:16:35 - E is for Epal as an “interval collection”00:16:55 - Epal: definition and origin 00:18:55 - Why was the collection called E is for Epal ?Puns00:19:57 - Epal cover design, and getting blurbed by Bob Ong00:20:51 - About Epal cover designer Michael Balili, author of poetry collection Velocirupture00:21:24 - Plotter vs Pantser — does this apply to poetry?How does Paolo plan his poetry collections (or does he?)00:21:56 - Visionary vs Gatherer00:24:33 - Paolo as a professor of Creative WritingOn teaching poetry to both CW majors and non-CW majors00:26:39 - On the importance of writing poetry “out loud”00:28:21 - Do contemporary poems still follow rules of meter and structure?00:29:39 - Is it difficult having a writer career and a teaching career?00:32:24 - The importance of taking enough time to write a poetry collection and having “space” between collections00:33:35 - Paolo’s productivity toolsNotebooksPlanners (“Plan-nerd”)Not a lot of digital appsFountain pens forever!00:36:10 - Bullet journaling and the pomodoro technique00:36:30 - Hobonichi weeks planner00:37:00 - Most productive hours of the day/Most productive places to write00:38:57 - On writing about the world when you’re outside00:40:38 - What is “jologs”?00:40:54 - Do you feel you need to explain the references in your poetry?Notes to poems add pages to a bookNotes as “baggage”00:46:49 - Jolography reduxresequencedretconnedrealigned with Epal and the upcoming collection00:50:00 - Any plans to be a full-time poet?00:50:47 - On having students succeeding as poets00:52:30 - Who are the future of poetry?00:54:00 - Paolo’s current favoritesWendy CopeIsabela Banzon00:58:55 - Favorite Pinoy poetsVirgilio Almario a.k.a. Rio Alma01:01:15 - How long does a poetry student take to find their voice?01:03:36 - On living up to reader expectations: poetry and fiction01:06:01 - Poetry eventsSpoken-word sessions at Sev’s Cafe (now closed)Conspiracy Garden Cafe - Words Anonymous’s “Dirty Laundry” Filipinas Heritage Library01:08:30 - Have you thought of producing audiobooks of your work?Local authors are creating audiobooks of their fictionLive readingsCan actors properly do a reading of someone else’s poetry?01:10:24 - “Instagram poets”01:12:29 - On writing for a specific medium01:14:29 - Poetry stickers?01:15:52 - Discovering different media for poetry01:16:47 - Where to find Paolo online01:17:28 - On students asking authors to do their homework01:18:24 - Where to find E is for Epal :Solidaridad in Ermita, ManilaBookay-Ukay in Quezon CityGacha Press on ShopeeAmazon Kindle*01:19:33 - Where to find JolographyLocal book