Maximum Volume

IntroductionMAXIMUM VOLUME is not about making noise but about creating space for emerging Filipino writers and new narratives. When Sarge Lacuesta and I formed our specialty publishing imprint et al, one of our goals was to encourage younger writers, to show them their voices matter, that they matter. We want to help grow a more vibrant readership, one that appreciates, supports and celebrates the different kinds of stories being written in our country. We want to help readers discover authors they may have previously been unaware of. We issued a call, sounded the clarion for stories by writers under 45 years old, and were overwhelmed by the response as submissions came in from all over the country and abroad. It was a difficult but rewarding task for both us—we had more excellent stories than we hoped. Here is a baker’s dozen of the best new contemporary writing, ranging from small personal tragedies to fantastic voyages of the imagination to our nation’s past and present. These stories take place on our soil as well as in other lands we have learned to call home—and all of them display a characteristic vitality, a certain energy that not only engages but also shows us what it means to lose and love and live. We unabashedly believe these stories to be among the best we have read this year, and each one deserves a wider audience. Sarge and I thank all our contributors as well as everyone who submitted fiction for consideration, and Anvil for giving et al and MAXIMUM VOLUME a home. This is only the beginning of MAXIMUM VOLUME. It is our hope that it will grow louder and brasher and shake the world in the years to come. Now go and read. DEAN FRANCIS ALFAR Manila 2014 DO NOT READ THIS INTRODUCTION. Go directly to the first page. Read the stories. There’s one with a nude model in it. There are a couple that are a bit tough to understand. There’s one with Jollibee in it! There are thirteen stories in this inaugural MAXIMUM VOLUME. We prefer to write it that way, in all-caps. Because it makes it seem louder and more important. Because it kind of calls attention to the word’s many useful meanings. Because when we pound out the letters with the caps-lock light on or with a finger firmly on the left shift key we feel like we’re making a big decision, collecting what we feel are really good stories from a young generation of writers who all probably pounded out these stories with the same kind of confidence. Thirteen could be an unlucky number. There might not be another book. But there will be. Because we’re feeling lucky, and there will always be writers who are young and who don’t care when people tell them writing stories isn’t worth much anymore, and that besides there isn’t much to write about anymore in our time. Because we will always be lucky to have stories like these, stories about second-hand clothing stores and lovers and cruise ships, stories about adobo and Spanish times and little places and big places like Bangkok and basta! ANGELO R. LACUESTA September 2013