Presenting Diwata with Barbara Jane Reyes Visit

I feel very special to have presented a reading of the class where the author was able to visit the class. Even though we had to analyze the Diwata to it's core, I still gained a lot of insight on Diwata with Barbara Jane Reyes's visit. It really clarified some aspects of the poetry book as a whole, and gave us a new way of looking at Diwata. Her explanation of what a fairy was really opened my mind because when I hear of the word "fairy", I indeed think of Tinkerbell. But in Philippine mythology, a fairy does not have to be of a nice, pretty little flying creature. It could be the exact opposite. It was amazing to hear her process of how to researched information to write the poems. It was interesting to hear how the myths of the Philippines are not talked about, how she went back to see her grandfather, and why she incorporated a women theme into Diwata. Overall, it was great to have her visit to talk to us about Diwata, especially because I was in the Diwata presentation group.

Jason Li