BookFace: Ang Sandali ng mga Mata (The Moment of the Eyes) by Alvin B Yapan

Synopsis: Alvin B. Yapan looks through the characters in the folk stories of the past and the Bikol people of the present. He uncovers what so long has been concealed about their lives and deaths and changed them into more practical people. The use of folk stories to complete the action marks a striking technical innovation, blending past and present while keeping the narrative moving into the future...Like the old ways of storytelling, the reader has to infer from the description of events and situations as Yapan runs together the time of the epic with contemporary time. Thus, this, too, is the story of contemporary Bikol. - Ma. Lilia F. Realubit

About the Author: From Pili, Camarines Sur (Philippines), Alvin B. Yapan teaches at Ateneo de Manila. He was involved in the 26th and 33rd U.P. Writers Workshops in Baguio(1996) and Los Baños(1998), including the Heights Annual Writers Workshop (1996). He received several recognitions through his short stories from various awards, namely: Dean's Award for the Arts for Creative Writing of Ateneo de Manila (1997), Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature (1997, 2002,2003), and NCCA (National Commission on Culture and the Arts) Writer's Prize (2005). "Nabulag ang Tagapagsalaysay" is the title of his first-ever short stories collection and it is included in the NCCA's New Authors Series summary. He was also the winner of the Juan C. Laya Award for Best Novel in a Philippine Language, 2006 National Book Awards.