We believe we’re on the right track. We have been making good on our promises, as laid out in the introduction to the maiden issue of this online literary journal.

After the public poetry reading in General Santos on July 29, similar events have been conducted in Koronadal (September 2), Tacurong (September 30), and Kidapawan (October 20), and preparations are being made for Cotabato. Soon we will have brought poetry closer to all the five cities of the region.

In the areas where poetry readings have been conducted, we have also selected interim officers to take care of recruitment and other literature-related undertakings. The officers have facilitated some activities, the most notable of which is the ongoing South Cotabato Poetry Workshop, an eight-session course for ten aspiring poets, taught by award-winning multilingual poet Generoso Opulencia.

And this literary journal, of course, continues to be a reliable venue for the best new works of local writers. This issue features six poems, two each from veteran writers Estrella Taño Golingay and Generoso Opulencia and one each from young poets Florence Jay Salcedo and Adonis Hornoz. Golingay’s “Trail” and Hornoz’s “Little Statue” are distinctly Mindanawon, while the other works have universal themes. Also included in this issue is a story from Jude Ortega. “Day of Mourning” was one of the top five winners in a 2015 nationwide short story competition that received 176 entries.

This issue, the third, is leaner than the first two because we have gathered before most of the winning works of Cotabato writers and we are focusing on discovering new voices, but we are well within our goal, which is to feature works from at least five writers every month. Expect the coming issues to contain a similar number of poems and stories.

We are grateful to our contributors for their trust in us. We are likewise thankful to the more or less five hundred individuals who have attended our poetry readings, especially the nearly one hundred open mike performers. They surprise us each time. Lastly, we thank the managements of our venues—DG’s Restobar in General Santos, 99 Brewery in Koronadal, Woodland Restobar in Tacurong, and Porticus Restobar in Kidapawan for the poetry readings and Refuge Cafe in Koronadal for the poetry workshop.

Months ago, most of us have been strangers. Now we are no doubt a community—brought together by literature, contributing whatever each one can to literature. We must really be on the right track.

Jude Ortega
Isulan, Sultan Kudarat