From 4.30am ET on 30 August 2022 I will be allowed to share some good news. It is an unexpected and welcome gift – yes, I prefer to see it as a gift – that gives comfort and hope for the act and journey of writing that is often solitary and unrecognised.
So until tomorrow then. For now I shall share this photo of a snail that escaped being crushed by my large and clumsy feet.
I will be reading from my book Bloodred Dragonflies at Stellenbosch University.
Thursday 11 August 2022 at 12pm. There will be time for Q&A and discussions.
This event will be face to face in the Yellow Molteno, Arts & Social Sciences Building (English Department, 5th Floor).
The invitation that was sent out has this…
Jim Pascual Agustin was born in the Philippines and grew up under the shadow of the Marcos dictatorship. Since 1994, he has been living in Cape Town. He writes in Filipino and English, and has published ten books of poetry and a collection of stories. Bloodred Dragonflies is Agustin’s first book to be published in South Africa (Deep South, Makhanda, 2022). A selection from three decades of work, it includes new poems and some recently translated versions of poems from the Filipino. His poems, constructed from subtle images, close observations of nature and refracted memories, demonstrate how innocence can stay alive under the most difficult conditions.
Some blurbs from previous books…
Not easy to want to read, these poems nonetheless demand it. That demand is what I think I want most from a poem.
– Mark Statman, LunchTicket
Agustin’s writing is sharp and measured, each line plump with thought and vivid remembrance, relentless in its delivery, but light enough in its form to keep you pressing on, keenly.
– Dave Mann, BooksLive
Agustin’s poetry is direct and lucid, lyrical and sharp, poised and polished. I cannot remember when last I read a collection in which every poem was so affecting.
– Karin Schimke, The Cape Times
Matangmanok 