THE MESSAGE. BRINGING INTO FOCUS FILIPINO PRESENCE IN AUSTRALIA
www.kalatas.com.au | Volume 7 Number 1 | OCTOBER 2016
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
17
FEATURE: ERWIN CABUCOS
New book on Filipino growing-up
and migration experiences
Queensland-based
Filipino author
Erwin Cabucos
released his new
collection of short
stories – ‘Does It
Matter What the
Dead Think’ –
dealing with the
subjects of growingup, migration,
poverty and family.
Cabucos sets his stories
in Australia and in the
Philippines where he reflects
richness of life experiences in
terms of contrast, endeavors,
intercultural relationships and
family issues. He says that
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living and working overseas
can be a lonesome experience,
and worst, there’s hardly any
book out there that mirrors
or discusses the world in
which Filipino workers find
themselves in.
“Writing these stories is
both a cathartic and a nostalgic
experience,” Cabucos says.
“My longing for home is
alleviated and my desire to
read books the Philippines and
relive my Filipino experiences
are responded to,” explains
Cabucos.
In this book, he tells stories
that revisit the experiences
of riding a carabao, bringing
palms on Palm Sundays,
circumcision, wanting to go
overseas, wanting to marry
someone from overseas,
caroling at Christmas, spider
fighting, eating adobo, etc.
“It is a collection of
emotionally charged stories,
many of them are funny and
tragic at the same time,”
describes Pip Kalajzich,
teacher of Creative Writing
from Macquarie Community
College, Sydney. “Erwin deals
with some very complex issues
in this book and he never tries
to paint anything as all black or
all white,” Kalajzich adds.
“It’s a wonderful
collection of short stories,”
says Cecilia Brainard, author
of the award-winning ‘Ala
Carte Food and Fiction’, where
Erwin’s story also appeared.
Erwin grew up in Cotabato
in Mindanao. He first came
to Australia in 1994 through
a scholarship and settled
here later after marrying his
Australian wife. He completed
Bachelor in Communication
from Newcastle University
and Masters in English
from the University of New
England, Australia. He
completed a Psychology
degree from Notre Dame
University in the Philippines’
south.
‘Does It Matter What the
Dead Think’ is now available
on Amazon.com in print,
Ebook and kindle formats.
More info is available from
the author’s website is http://
erwincabucos.wixsite.com/
author.