Interview with Alyza Taguilaso

Alyza Taguilaso is a resident doctor training in General Surgery at Ospital ng Muntinlupa in the Philippines. Her poems have been shortlisted in the Bridport Poetry Prize and Manchester Poetry Prize. They have been published in several print and online publications, including Fantasy Magazine, Strange Horizons, ANMLY, High Chair, Stone Telling Magazine, Philippines Free Press, and Kritika Kultura. You can find her online via Wordpress (@alyzataguilastorm), Instagram (@ventral), and Twitter (@lalalalalalyza).

Manahil: This is Canthius’s tenth issue, and the first for which we have a guest editor, Sanna Wani. Whether you’ve been a long-time reader of Canthius or are just getting introduced us, how did you come to decide what pieces you wanted to share with the magazine?

Alyza: When I found out that Canthius was interested in pieces from marginalized individuals, I knew I had to send in some of my work – specifically those that dealt with nuances of being a working-class Filipina in an extremely religious nation.

Manahil: I find writing often emerges from a conversation. What conversation is happening in your work?

Alyza: “Divinity” is a piece about faith. The Philippines is a predominantly Roman Catholic nation that is riddled with superstitions, so I found that combination interesting to tackle. Faith not just in gods but in all these piled-up superstitions, ones we draw from our history and ourselves. How a random belief is passed down and suddenly we find ourselves following these, sometimes without context, which is funny, if you think of it. But in the Filipino sense, most of us are obedient to a fault. An image I placed here is a common thing we say to ghosts – “Paki-alog ang baso,” – which is a ritual – in a way – that involves the said ghost tipping an upturned glass to indicate their presence, hence, When we miss someone, we ask them to tip the glass from across the afterlife.

The last image I placed in that poem was about when my grandfather passed away, how it felt foolish but natural to still want to keep a part of someone you love with you, like a prayer.

Manahil: I love how your poem, “Divinity” sprawls out from the epigraph from Carmen Gimenez Smith about faith. Why did you choose to move towards explorations of ghosts and spirits from this quote?

Alyza: I encountered this line from her really great poem, Entanglement. A lot of what “faith” is in my country I believe involves faith in the unknown and whatever those forces may be, hence the extension to ghosts and spirits. People will tend to say “Bahala na,” which is a fatalistic was of saying “Whatever happens, happens”, while at the same time performing all these rituals passed down from great grandfolks and great aunts and godknowswho just to ensure good fortune or safe passage. Filipinos have a fondness for walking around eggshells trying to never piss anyone else off or rock the boat and I think this extends to supernatural forces. Offerings, over confrontation.

Manahil: What is something you’re working on that you’d like to share!

Alyza: There’s this event in the Southeast Asian community that happens every year – SEAPoWriMo – and I’m trying to catch up with the daily prompts so far. Here’s a short piece called “Altitude” off the Shortcut Prompt (which basically asks you to discuss shortcuts, in a way).

“Altitude”
His father’s father’s father was the best
at flying planes, you know, said the stewardess,
as we buckled our seatbelts tighter. The aircraft in steep descent
towards a bright, blue patch of sea.

Manahil: In closing, what is a poem, story, painting, chapbook, or book you would like to recommend others read?

Alyza: My favourites are pieces from Dean Young, Victoria Chang, Jericho Brown, Robert Hass, Warsan Shire, Diane Seuss, Chen Chen, Natalie Diaz, Ilya Kaminsky, Alex Dimitrov, Lisel Mueller, and Eric Gamalinda.

I would also like to direct attention of the readers to Filipino poets – most of whom I’ve had the pleasure to write with and share their company. Christine Lao, Ralph Fonte, Vince Agcaoili, Enrique Villasis, Danabelle Gutierrez, Ryan Ram!!! Malli, Mark Dimaisip, Roy Cagalingan, F. Jordan Carnice, King Llanza, Floraime Pantaleta, Trish Shishikura, and Eliza Victoria, to name a few.