SESSION 1: Variations on Disquiet and Rage
Fellow:  Rhanydell Bien Baysa (Poetry, English)
Moderator:  Luna Sicat Cleto

To introduce Rhanydell Baysa’s Variations on Disquiet and Rage, Luna Sicat Cleto pointed out how the work’s themes of liminality, invisibility, and the mapping of different landscapes and geographies are deepened by the multi-cultural, nomadic positionality of the writer. Having been born in Metro Manila, raised in Malaysia, and experienced his political and artistic maturation in Baguio, Baysa demonstrates in his work a reflexive awareness of the relationship between spatiality and political resistance. Expounding on his poetics, he cited critical theorist Neferti Tadiar— “Spaces of war are also spaces of living…”

Various fellows and panelists praised the masterful use of language in the collection; for example, his ease in juxtaposing petit bourgeois concerns such as online dating with the mass struggle. The discussion also touched on how Baysa’s poetry grappled with placelessness and the ever-prevalent question: “…will writing be ever enough?” However, this perceived self-flagellating posture was also critiqued as defeatist and failing to provide its readers with a strong political resolution. Similarly, his gamified textual experimentation in “Rules of Democracy™” and “Love is Proletarian Solidarity Forged in The People’s War,” while praised for their playful, interactive aspects, was found lacking in terms of semantic force and a purposeful, directive statement.

In his response to the feedback, Baysa explained the rationale behind his adoption of the sudoku puzzle as poetic form; the intended solution is singular and non-negotiable— “Walang ibang sagot kung ‘di rebolusyon.”