(Continued from Iloilo and the Gay ‘90s)
I’M NOT in any politician’s payola.
They know I cannot be bought.
I am too literary. Too artsy. Too independent-minded.
And that’s how I managed to keep my integrity in the Ilonggo newspapers.
Eighteen years later, I’m still here.
Doing my thing.
Independent-minded. Artsy. Literary.
Crazy. Funny. Smart.
I am my own signature. My own brand.
Nobody else does things like I do.
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Nobody else writes the crazy things I write, and gets published with the kind of royal treatment I get.
Well, the honor and privilege is pretty much well-earned.
And that’s how real artists are made. And respected.
Peter Solis Nery as national artist?
Not the national artist in the manner of Order of National Artists. Observe the capital letters.
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I’m just a national artist with the small letters.
It just means an artist with considerable national fame.
So, no! In this sense, I’m really more of an international artist.
I have some amount of fame in the US, in the Middle East (Hello? I’m the first Filipino author, and so far the only, ever invited to the Sharjah International Book Fair in the United Arab Emirates!), and Europe.
I have solid fan base in the UK and Hong Kong.
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So yeah, I’m pretty much an international artist.
Or simply, artist.
The artist Peter Solis Nery.
The artist Peter Solis Nery!
I like the sound of that.
It sounds like a signature. Hehe.
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So, all right, going back to the question.
After winning awards and recognition, and, may I add, public respect (even if that respect also means fear by way of my notoriety), I no longer get off on just seeing my name in print.
I actually got obsessed with proving my worth.
Thus, my conscious, serious literary output that are geared towards more awards and recognitions.
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And if the Palanca is the standard by which Philippine writers are measured, I’ve not been doing badly in the last ten years.
Look, I’m on my record 19 career-win at the Palanca Awards, and I’m not even 50 years old yet.
I’ve been a perennial winner since I moved to America in 2006.
I mean, this year, they can judge against me just because they’re tired of seeing my name win.
But that doesn’t change the great quality of my work.
I have come a long way from “Bayu nga Pula” or “Sniffles”, baby!
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So, what inspires me to write these days?
It’s my readers.
The people who believe in what goodness I can do in my writing.
In what art and literature I can make.
I write for my people.
In a way, you can say that I still write for the judges and gods of the awards and publications. Because I continue to write for competitions, and I continue to win.
But that’s not completely true.
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My stories are firstly stories for common readers.
For my people. My Filipino people.
Yeah, for my ambition and intention, I see myself as a National Artist. Note the capital letters.
But I’m not really interested in that honor right now.
I’d rather be national artist (small letters) with big dreams, big ambitions, and high quality work than be National Artist (big letters) and be subservient to what the committee who elects them think as Filipino art and literature.
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Please don’t start me on the politics of choosing National Artists.
That Carlo Caparas, Cecile Guidote-Alvarez, and Pitoy Moreno were named National Artists in 2009, and were later voided by the Supreme Court,
Or that the title and honor of National Artist can be protested, and the selection process questioned,
Or, that Nora Aunor has still not been honored until now,
Or Lea Salonga, too, for that matter,
Well, you can make your own conclusions how political these things can be.
I don’t want to be part of that crap.
Just remember me as “The Artist Peter Solis Nery”. (Capitalization mine.)
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Damn! Where am I going with this article?
But you get the point.
Again, What inspires me to write?
My people. My readers.
Because I know that people trust my name now, and they look forward to what I write next, I try to write whatever I want to communicate to them.
They’re hungry, so I feed them.
Some parts, what they want; some parts, what they need.
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I write simply.
In the language that I think they will understand.
And I know that they understand because they give me feedback through social media.
Something that older writers, even National Artists, didn’t enjoy in the past century.
I communicate with my fans.
And I know exactly what they like about me and my works.
I don’t mess up with what works.
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I know you like me.
Because you still read my columns even if I sometimes write crappy stuff.
Sometimes, I’m just lazy.
Sometimes, I’m just pushing your limits.
Expanding my boundaries.
But always, I think of you, my dear readers.
You are important to me.
Even you, haters!
(To be continued as The Boy from Zamboanga) (500tinaga@gmail.com/PN)
