Book Launch: A Time for Dragons

We almost missed this book launch.

M1 was eager to go to this one because his teacher, Vincent Simbulan, was launching an anthology of dragon stories written by a pool of authors including himself. But when we went to Shangri-la Plaza Mall last March 26, there was no such event!

Thanks to a heads-up by Dom Cimafranca, my online contact who happened to also be one of the authors, I found out that the launch was for March 29 (not the 26th) in the mall. So much for date mix-ups! 

Cover-A Time for Dragons

 

A Time for Dragons (under Anvil Publishing) is a collaboration consisting of 17 short stories and 1 essay by Filipino writers who, as stated in Anvil’s website, “aim to present the dragon in new and inventive ways, and to renew and refresh the dragon for a more sophisticated and mature audience”. Vin Simbulan mentioned that unlike other parts of the world where the dragon is often depicted as an evil being (including in the Bible), Asian dragons were depicted as heroic, gentle creatures. Even the cover of the book was truly a work of art. It was awesome! And when we met the illustrator, Andrew Drilon, who did the cover as well as all the illustrations inside, I remember thinking how young he was. Truly gifted!

Here is the book’s Table of Contents to give you a flavor of what is inside.

“Glass” by Nikki Alfar
“Dragon Brother” by Cyan Abad-Jugo
“The Annotated Account of Tholomew Mestich” by Elyss Punsalan
“The Clockwork Dragon’s Heart” by Vincent Michael Simbulan
“Moondown and Fugue” by Alexander Drilon
“Gunsaddled” by Alexander Marcos Osias
“Lex Talionis” by Paolo Chikiamco
“The Final Tale of Zhang Bai Long” by Elbert Or
“A Fishy Tale” by Apol Lejano-Massebieau
“Johnny Tatô and the Dragon of Pasig” by Joseph Nacino
“Capture” by Gabriela Lee
“3:30pm with Sir Galahad” by Kate Aton-Osias
“A Change of Guards” by Oscar Alvarez
“The Fossil” by Angelo R. Lacuesta
“A Little Knowledge” by Dominique Cimafranca
“The Bridge” by Yvette Natalie U. Tan
“Fallow’s Flight” by Dean Francis Alfar
“Dragons Among Us (Essay)” by Charles Tan

 

Book signing followed after the launch and M1 got each of the authors (at least those present) to sign NOT on the introduction pages but on the 1st page of their respective stories. How’s that for being different!
Some pictures from the launch follow:
M1 with his professor/author, Vincent Simbulan
M1 with his professor/author, Vincent Simbulan
Some of the authors
Some of the authors
M1 has his book copy signed by his teacher
M1 has his book signed by his teacher
Andrew Drilon, the illustrator
Andrew Drilon, the illustrator