The Editorial Board

R. Joseph Dazo was born and raised in City of Talisay, Cebu. He writes short fiction in Binisaya and English. He holds Master of Arts in Literature. He is the co-editor of Libulan Binisayang Antolohiya sa Katitikang Queer. He is also the author of a collection of short fiction in Binisaya, Ubang Gabii sa Mango Avenue which was cited in the CNN Philippines’ the best Filipino books of 2010s. He has won Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for his short fiction. His works are featured in Words Without Borders, Slice Magazine, ANMLY, Bisaya, Philippine Graphic, and Likhaan. He is currently participating culture exchange program and serves as a visiting international teacher in Texas. His co-edited queer anthology, Libulan 2, and the short film he co-wrote and produced, The Red Banca, are forthcoming.

Usa ka magtutudlo si Wilfreda Cabusas. Kasamtangang nagtungha siya sa Cebu Normal University sa kursong Master of Arts in Education major in English Language Teaching. Nahimo siyang fellow sa balak sa 13th Lamiraw Creative Writing Workshop, Bathalad-Sugbo’s 1st Kagis Creative Writers Workshop, ug 57 th Silliman University National Writers Workshop. Sa tuig 2017, gipasidunggan siya sa Bisaya Magazine isip Labing Masaarong Bag-ong Magsusulat; ug sa Bathalad-Sugbo isip Masaarong Batan-on nga Magsusulat. Nahimo pod siyang usa sa mga kontribyutor sa unang bolyum sa Libulan: Binisayang Antolohiya sa Katitikang Queer. Miyembro pod siya sa Hablon nga usa ka hugpong sa mga batan-ong magsusulat sa Cebu.

John Danté is a Cebuano fictionist, essayist, dramatist, and poet. He introduced high fantasy in Cebuano Literature with the mythical world of Balmaya, and wrote narratives set in that world with his first short story ebook collection Gasubang nga mga Suginduraw Kabahin sa Balmaya, and a serialized short novel entitled Surumawa. He is a recipient of the Gawad Bienvenido Lumbera award for Cebuano Short Story in 2022 where his champion piece Dihang Misubang ang Adlaw sa Takulahaw is included in the Mga Nagwaging Akda anthology for winners. His works can be read in Bisaya Magazine, Kabisdak, and in the 21st Century Philippine Literature Reader (NCLA Sourcebook).

Sigrid Marianne Gayangos is the author of Laut, a collection of short stories published by the UP Press, and Lola Maria’s Candles, a forthcoming bilingual children’s book from Aklat Alamid. In 2021, she was the recipient of the NCCA’s Writers Prize for Fiction, which allowed her to complete a second collection of short stories in Chavacano. She hopes to finish self-translating her Chavacano collection, El Vida Encantao (The Enchanted Life), to English during her stay as writer-in-residence at Rimbun Dahan. She currently teaches at the Department of Humanities in the University of the Philippines Mindanao.

Dave Pregoner is a writer and editor from Mactan Island, Cebu. He writes poetry, fiction, and occasional musings on travel and queer experiences. His works have earned recognition from the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature and the Normal Awards for Gender-Inclusive Literature. His flash fiction What Remains to be Seen won the Kyoto City Mayoral Prize (Grand Prize) in the 9th Annual Kyoto Writing Competition in Japan. A fellow at various Writers Workshops, he also received a Fiction Writing Grant under Beth Kempton’s Masterclass, River of Words. Dave works as a Developmental and Content Language Editor at Rex Education, a Virtual Language Trainer at Learnlight, and a Foreign Language Teacher in Akita City, Japan. When bored, he practices Japanese while tending to his lovely plants.

Ria Valdez is from Davao City. She teaches in the Department of Humanities in UP Mindanao. Her works are published in Dx Machina: Literature in the Time of COVID-19; Tingle: Anthology of Pinay Lesbian Writing, Plus/+, At Iba Plus, Maramihan: New Philippine Prose on Sexual Orientations and Gender Identities, and Press:100 Love Letters. A collection of her poems entitled “Sum of Her Parts” was published last 2021 under the Road Map Series.

Si Abner Dormiendo ay isang manunulat na nakatira sa Antipolo. Nagtapos siya ng AB Philosophy sa Pamantasang Ateneo de Manila, tinatapos ang masterado sa malikhaing pagsulat sa Pamantasang De La Salle, at nagtuturo sa isang pribadong paaralan sa Pasig. Nailathala ang kaniyang mga akda sa iba’t ibang dyornal sa loob at labas ng bansa at nagkamit din ng ilang mga gantimpala, kasama na ang Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature para sa Tula noong 2015. Siya ay kasapi ng Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika, at Anyo (LIRA), at kasalukuyang  nagsisilbi bilang direktor ng Taunang Palihang LIRA.

Jessrel Escaran Gilbuena hails from Santa Fe, Bantayan Island, Cebu. He is teaching in a public senior high school in Bantayan Island. His works appeared in Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, BANWA of the University of Philippines-Mindanao, Sunstar Weekend, Freeman Weekend, and Bisaya Magazine of Manila Bulletin, to name a few. In 2017, his first book of poems, Lugas sa Balas, was published by BATHALAD Sugbo Inc.. He was a fellow of the Iligan National Writing Workshop in MSU-Iligan (wherein he was awarded the Jimmy Y. Balacuit Literary Award for Poetry), Ateneo Writers Workshop in Ateneo de Manila University-Manila, and the IYAS National Writers Workshop by the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod. He is one of the awardees of the 2019 Indonesian Arts and Culture scholarship He is an islander who loves to see more islands. He travels, and places with beaches are his favorite.

Jae Mari D. Magdadaro is a registered psychometrician and a Master of Education (Social Studies) graduate from the University of the Philippines Cebu. She writes poetry in Binisaya. She was a fellow to the 31st Cornelio Faigao Writers USC Cebuano Studies Center, 2016 Tagik Landasan, and the 17th Iyas National Writers Workshop in DLSU. She has been anthologized in Inday-Inday, Libulan: Binisayang Antolohiya sa Katitikang Queer, and The Loch Raven Review. Her poems have also been published in Manila Bulletin’s Bisaya Magasin, SunStar Superbalita, and Kabisdak: Cebuano Literary Lighthouse.  She is the editor of the collection of short stories Mga Awit sa Atabay of Ms. Lilia Tio launched in 2021. She was one of the founders of Hablon and has served as the Vice President of BATHALAD- Sugbo. She was awarded as the Labing Masaarong Bag-ong Magsusulat sa Tuig 2018 in Manila Bulletin’s Bisaya Magasin.

Thomas Leonard Shaw is a queer, liminal poet-critic who lives in perpetual transit from Siargao to Metro Manila. Once a Creative Writing student and Palanca Foundation scholar at the University of the Philippines Diliman, and a poetry fellow at the 1st Philippine National LGBTQ Writers Workshop, the 1st Cebu Young Writers Studio, and 26th Iligan National Writers’ Workshop, Thomas now majors in Comparative Literature, and studies what it means to be a writer and critic in this global age of cultural and artistic production. He was an awardee at the 2019 Amelia Lapeña Bonifacio Literary Awards and has been published by Voice and Verse Magazine. With a research interest in memory studies and the intersections between literature, history and imperial expansion, he hopes to one day teach literature and to help organize the first creative writing workshop in Siargao. His current project is an exploration of the dialectics between memory and history in the fiction of Angelica Gorodischer.

Rome Nicolas is a technophile and an arts and culture advocate from Carcar City, Cebu. He also writes short stories and essays in Binisaya. A contributor for Manila Bulletin’s Bisaya Magasin, he was an awardee of Labing Masaarong Bag-ong Magsusulat sa Bisaya in 2010. He was a writing fellow at the following workshops: the 11th Iyas National Writers Workshop (De La Salle University-Bienvenido N Santos Creative Writing Center), 27th Faigao Memorial Writing Workshop (University of San Carlos Cebuano Studies Center), and 3rd Mugna Creative Writing Workshop (University of the Philippines Cebu). He is the founder of UP Cebu’s Creative Writing Organization TINTA. He used to spearhead the now-defunct Balakista, and is currently the Editor-in-Chief of Tatak Bisaya.