ABOUT THE BOOK

O and Other Illuminations is Frank Cimatu’s second book of poems after Birdcatching in Sagada and Other Poems (2021). While Birdcatching in Sagada is his version of Robert Frost’s North of Boston (1914), which established the poet’s roots, this new book covers the (Eddie) peregrination through time, space, and giant robotic dimensions. It also includes EJK, COVID, annunciations, crucifixions, texting after death, and love in hot and sour soup rendezvous. This is an alphabet soup of mostly O, V, and X in yellow broth. Savor  the irreverence, irreality, irradiance, and irreproachability of the lines. As the title poem has it, “A whole tale to ponder and yet we are still within the first letter.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Frank Cimatu is a veteran poet and journalist based in Baguio City. He currently contributes to Rappler and co-runs the Facebook page Mountain Beacon. In 2018 and 2021, he published two poetry collections: Ang Mga Prusisyong Dumaan Sa Unang Bangungot and Birdcatching in Sagada and Other Poems. Prusisyon won the 20th Madrigal-Gonzales Best First Book Award for 2021. He twice won the Palanca for poetry in English and Filipino. He also placed second in the Procyon Awards for Young Filipino Poets. His current collection is a compilation of his works from the onset of the pandemic to the present, following his recollections of nostalgia, pop culture, and political response to the struggles faced by journalists.