Creative Writing for Salamangka 2

When I got this project, I was really overwhelmed. Like, really overwhelmed.

As a fan of Ian Sta. Maria's work, to be invited to write for Salamangka 2 was, frankly, something I still don't understand how I got the opportunity to do.

The world of Salamangka is a world of myth and wonder. Of whimsy. It's a world of imagination that so many of us don't tap into as much as we should. It was an easy yes for me.

What wasn't easy was writing it. The lore is vast enough as it is, as the book largely explores creatures of Philippine Mythology, but being given free rein was a double-edged sword. After all, it's easier to write with parameters.

After the artworks were assigned to us, I wrote and rewrote. I researched. Wrote and rewrote. And then wrote again. And then rewrote again.

For me, the key was finding the balance between sticking to what we already know about the myth and finding my own way to spin it. For example, playing with perspective: "The Devouring of the Moon, from the Perspective of the Moon." and "The Author Interviews the Goddess of Lost Things and She Talks About Being Found ."

I wrote both prose and poetry across the artworks that were assigned for me. Obviously, I can't share the whole pieces here, but I at least wanted to share a snippet of one of my favorites: