What does it mean when after reading a work of fiction and non-fiction set in the same country, you do not see much of a difference? Perhaps it shows how effectively the non-fiction writer uses the novelistic mode or how sharp the fiction writer reflects reality through their writing. Or maybe there are issues so …
Continue reading A Burning, Behind the Beautiful Forevers, and the Indian Criminal Justice System
Trigger Warning: Rape, sexual abuse, murder, self-harm I admit it's a bit odd comparing these two, but Melchor's Hurricane Season and Yanagihara's A Little Life are the same and different in several ways. While Hurricane Season is set in a rural Mexican town and A Little Life (mostly) in New York among the upper classes, …
Continue reading Violence and Trauma: Hurricane Season and A Little Life
This opinion piece first appeared in Davao Today on October 24, 2020, written as a criticism of our educational system amidst the pandemic and how it's worsened by this fascist state. One of the things our educational system is exposing this pandemic is how ineffective its grading system is. It has always been. But with …
Continue reading Why we must abolish our grading system, and why we can’t (Davao Today)
Reil Benedict Obinque 