Fox Literary House, a new publishing firm that is said to be “independent and progressive,” will be launching its newest books on Monday, April 14, 4 p.m. at Fully Booked at Bonifacio Global City.

The book launch covers the works of mostly …

Ni Jose Bimbo Santos

In this literary piece from Kanto’s third issue, Tag-ulan, Santos wonders, with the killing of journalists, is there anybody who still wants to be a reporter?

Noong isang araw diyan sa may kanto, binaril sa ulo ’yung mamang reporter. Sa radyo? Sa diyaryo? Sa TV? Di ko na matandaan kung saang reporter siya. Basta binaril siya. Noong isang araw lang. Di ko tanda kung anong petsa. Basta binaril siya.

Tatlong putok ’yung narinig namin. Tatlong putok ’yung tumapos sa kaniya. Hindi. Hindi naman mabilis. Parang may ilang segundong pagitan ’yung mga putok. Siguro pinagmasdan muna ng pumatay ’yung mamang reporter. Siguro, sa pagitan ng bawat kalabit sa gatilyo, sumusubo siya ng pulutan na nasa mesa. Siguro shuma-shot din siya ng serbesa. Nagtakbuhan daw kaagad ’yung mga kainuman ng mamang reporter pagkatapos pakawalan ’yung unang putok. Sumara kaagad ’yung bintana at namatay ’yung ilaw ng sari-sari store na pinagbilhan ng alak ng mamang reporter ’tsaka ng mga kasama niya.

A decade from now, twenty-somethings will remember their teenage years for their first kiss, the prom date, getting their drivers’ license, and their collection of books by Melissa de la Cruz, young adult fiction author who has built a strong international teen following with her best-selling Au Pairs series.

Yes, Melissa de la Cruz is her real name. A child of the diaspora, Melissa was born in Manila, later moving to San Francisco with her family. There she finished as salutatorian at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, later going off to college as an art history and English major at the Columbia University.

Melissa published her first book, Cat’s Meow, in 2001, but it was the Au Pairs series, launched in 2004, that clicked among teenage and young adult readers.

The story follows the experiences of three girls with different backgrounds who go to the Hamptons for the summer and play au pair to a family. That summer’s experience forges a friendship that would last a lifetime.

Tim Tayag, RJ Ledesma, and Tim Yap during the launch of Ledesma’s first book.

Or the aspiring bloggers or writers or Neil Gaiman wannabes.

As alternative authors company Fortune Favors the Bald (FFtB–yes, you read it right) joins the literary world, creative minds who would not stand a chance getting published in traditional presses would know where to go to showcase their craft.

Eighties pop culture icon and RJ Ledesma recently launched his first book, Lies My Yaya Should Have Told Me: RJ Ledesma’s Imaginary Guide to Whine and Women.

Produced by Anvil Publishing, the book was “inspired by a great deal of childhood memories,” says Ledesma, who thought the eighties was “a blur, except for Royal True Orange and my yaya.”

In an upcoming Innerview, PinoyCentric will be talking to writer and University of the Philippines professor Jose “Butch” Dalisay, Jr.

Dalisay has published 15 books of his stories, plays, and essays, with five of these books receiving the National Book …