RE de Leon is a Filipino Novelist and Businessman based in Agoo, La Union in the Philippines. He recently resigned as a professor at the University of the Philippines Los Baños.
To learn more about RE de Leon, visit
his friendster accountTo learn more about the Ma-Yi Novel Trilogy project, please await new updates at
the new Ma-Yi blog page
This site is under heavy construction.
Please visit it again for more updates, coming soon.
Why "Other Stories"?
The theme of "other stories" has followed me around since my gradeschool days. (Hence "alternativity" which has been my email avatar since college.)
The basic idea is that there are certain stories that have not really found their way into the our society's conversation.
These stories (or approaches to stories) rarely find their way into the headlines, dont get discussed in polite conversation, and are only breezed through in university lectures.
They are, among others,
- the story of a sixth-grade pupil whose intellectual exploration the teacher dismisses as hubris.
- the story of an educator who finds he has more questions than answers.
- the story of a development advocate who isn't quite convinced he's advocating the right approach to development.
- the story of a storyteller in a land where stories are considered distractions from the necessary tasks of daily drudgery.
If the list seem's self centered, I'm afraid that's because a writer is limited by his formative experiences.
On the other hand, that's the point, isn't it?
The entire philosophy of focusing on "Other Stories" is summed up in the act of saying "Hey, look! My story is important too!"
Not because I have unusually important stories to tell, but because we
all do.
In the end, the philosophy of "Other Stories" is about empowerment.
My story is important. Your story is important. These other stories that routinely get ignored? They matter.
They say the pen has a power that is far greater than the sword.
Here's to spreading that power a bit.
Here's to...
... the other stories.
