Interview with Joel Vega by Prince G. Binondo

 

Million miles away and oceans apart are the physical attributes of an expatriate raconteur. Though these storytellers are living in the foreign shore but the desire to be in the bosom of their motherland is still running in their veins. Joel H. Vega, a Palanca winning poet, is living in the Netherlands for decades, but his literary voice remains the inflection for those marginalized Filipinos; though, he always sees windmills in his windows but his essays are still coated with the resiliency of a Philippine bamboo; though he smells the yellow daffodils in the Dutch green fields but his poetry still has the touch of sampaguita and gumamela.

 

            A product of UPLB, Joel is as an activist, essayist, LGBT advocate, painter, and poet. In this conversation, Joel reveals his philosophy as a writer, the struggles of an expatriate raconteur, and his rules in order to become a successful writer. Here is the full interview to Joel H. Vega.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1   When did you know that you were born a writer?

 

I never asked myself that question and I would never know as I didn’t look into my brain

to find out if I have those writer cells (laughs). Seriously, that’s the classic “nature vs.

nurture,” question. It can be both assuming you have a natural writing talent, you still

have to nurture it. Talent as everyone knows, is not enough. If you were born with great innate writing ability, congratulations, you might have gained a slight lead. But you still

have to show and roll up your sleeves.

 

To those without exceptional writing talent, don’t despair. Writing is also a craft, and if

you write for business, journalism, advertising and public relations there are certainly ways to learn the tricks of the trade. Creativity or literary writing is a different path, less predictable but certainly worth the adventure.

 

In literature, not only do you need a natural and exceptional ear for language, you also need empathy, a fine sensibility and imagination to write stories and poems. Plus you need the necessary stubbornness to write poems and stories without expectations of financial gain or recognition. Otherwise, the better question to ask yourself, is-why do I persist in writing these poems and stories? Ask yourself: Why do I write? If you give an honest answer, step forwards and be ready for tough work ahead and don’t whine.

 

2.)    What is your writing habit, do you wake up at 2:00 o’clock in the morning to write or bring your laptop/pen and paper to a coffee shop or just look for a quiet place?

 

I have no particular or remarkable habit. I do keep pen and paper handy on my bedside table, and a very accessible switch for night lamp. When travelling I jot notes in the train, in the bus, in the airport lounges, practically anywhere when inspiration hits me and a line comes to mind. It’s just a line, but it’s a start. Later, I might discard that line, recycle or cut it out. The last time I wrote into the small hours of the morning was in 2015 when I was writing my Palanca essay “A View of Masada.” That was a piece that I could not just drop for dinner or grocery errands. I kept on writing through the night.

 

3.)    What kind of a writer are you-leftist, rightist or neutral? If so, then what is your philosophy as a writer? 

 

Maybe what you are really referring to is, does politics have a role in creative or literary writing. Certainly it does. Writing may be triggered by personal circumstances, but the political can also be fodder for literature. There are many memorable writings with politics as subject matter or inspiration. The personal, as you already know, can also touch on the political.

Poetry’s domain though is language, and to sacrifice the concerns of poetic language   because of purely political may prove to be a less successful strategy. If you want to convince your reader of the political, it’s wiser to write a political tract than a poem. The poem can though is language, and to sacrifice the concerns of poetic language because of the purely political may prove to be a less successful strategy. If you want to convince your readers of the political, it's wiser to write a political tract than a poem. The poem can carry the political, but if a poet prioritizes the overtly political he ends up with polemic, not the poetic.

 

Readers familiar with my writing would know my political sensibilities. Even in the early 1980s when I started submitting poems to magazines, my political leanings were evident. I had the privilege to contribute to two landmark protest poetry anthologies, in 1987 with Versus edited by Esther Pacheco and Alfred Salanga and last year for the 2017 Bloodlust anthology edited by Krip Yuson and Gemino Abad. Before the downfall of the Marcos regime Midweek magazine published some of my politically-charged poems. In college at UPLB in Laguna, I was features editor, but that was student journalism, not literature, but it brought me in contact with mass-based politics in the early 1980s and informed my literary writing. 

 

Having said that, I am convinced that it would be a mistake for a writer to be silent about the political. When there is tyranny and inhumanity rearing its ugly head under the guise of restoring peace and order, we need all hands on board and writers should act as lightning rods and promptly signal the warnings. It is disheartening to see that certain high-profile writers now are taking the stick of propaganda being peddled by the current administration. The message to them is this: the people are looking and no deeds will be left unaccountable. If we writers jump into the political swamp, we should be mindful of our history, do our research and might as well take the side of the marginalized and the oppressed. 

4.)    How would you differentiate an expat Filipino writer from Philippines-based writer?

 

There are no differences, and I don't differentiate. Except that I live in a region with colder, sub-zero temperatures in winter, higher taxes, and less corruption. The writer's concerns are universal. His characters maybe local, the details in his poems maybe particular, but his concerns are universal.

5.)    What are the struggles of an expat Filipino writer and how do you overcome these adversaries?

 

The practical struggles are the same regardless of a writer's home address. With our globalized, heavily digitalized world, the theme of alienation prevalent in the early and mid-20th century writing or literature is less felt in our modern, highly inter-connected world. I pick up my iPad, click Facebook and minutes later I'm engaged in an absurd debate with a Marcos troll. Hazards of the widely pervasive social media.

 

Overcoming adversaries sound so dramatic... Fortunately, I have not experienced racist behavior because of my height or skin color in my part of the world. I hope it stays that way with the growing influence of conservative politics in Europe. 

 

For a Filipino expat writer, however, the longer one lives outside the land of birth, the more difficult it is to have direct access to the particulars of the Filipino experience. The physical distance can also translate itself to emotional distance-- for a fictionist maybe a good thing by itself since the writer is prompted to examine issues with a more critical eye. One's writing is also informed by a less parochial attidude. An expat writer though has to be wary about nostalgic writing which may lead to easy sentiment.

6.)    Do you think the expat Filipino writers’ literary works are relevant to the Filipino readers in the Philippines? Why or why not?

 

When a writer writes with all honesty, intelligence, and the creativity that he can muster, the least of his worries is that big word "relevance." Self-consciousness in writing is similar to that thumbs-up 'Like' emoticon in Facebook.

Just write about your experience, and the rest will take care of itself. And if not, and the world continues to spin with all its cosmic indifference, no worries.

 

7.)    What themes and subjects of the expat Filipino writers’ literary works that are useful to the Filipinos in the Philippines? Why?

 

My forthcoming book with UST Publishing House. "Drift" is the title of my debut poetry collection. There are 55 poems, a few of them collected from two decades ago with many of the poems coming from the last two to five years. I explored themes of displacement, the frailty of the human body and human links, among others, themes, that I hope will be read with interest now and in the future, and by various readers, not only here in the Philippines.

 

8.)    In your opinion, why the Philippines has not yet produce a winner in Nobel Prize in Literature? Is there discrimination to the Southeast Asian writers? 

The “prestige” question! (Laughs). I hope Filipino writers are not bothered by this snub, if one considers. Kidding aside, does anyone know the criteria for this prize? I don’t. But even if there is a published criterion out there, the judges will have their own, closed-door battles in terms of literary tastes and standards. A writer and a nation of serious readers, I hope, should not be bothered by the lack of recognition. Of course, it will help win publicity mileage and the poor writer may attract new readers, plus the prize money. But if I were F. Sionil Jose or some big shot Southeast Asian writer, I won’t be bothered by the snub.

9.)    What is the role of an expat Filipino writer in nation building?

Ah, the Miss Universe question! Hahaha… (Big Laugh).If there is an exit door in this interview I will make a mad rush for it… (Laughs again).  The role of an expat writer is no different from a Philippine –based writer, that is, to write about a singular experience, and, when needed, to express our resistance to injustice.

 

10.)                        What are your TOP 5 RULES in order to become a successful writer?

 

Rule No. 1, Read, Rule No. 2, Read again. Rule No. 3, Write. Rule No. 4, Revise.

Rule No. 5, Write again. Just show up for work, roll up your sleeves and forget about the mess in your kitchen sink. Sit down and write.