Six Saturdays of Beyblade and Other Essays

A collection of personal essays about growing up and becoming a father from the landscapes of the Philippine countrysides to the fringes and streetways of Manila In these ten personal essays, a father confesses in gripping narratives his coming of age without a father, of working at an early age, of finding love in hopeless places, of losing a son to leukemia, and of accepting the language of pain. In Six Saturdays of Beyblade and Other Essays, bestselling author Ferdinand Pisigan Jarin brings us back to memories of being a tennis ball picker in a lavish country club, of achieving his dreams as the smallest member of a countryside marching band, and of drinking Michael Jordan and Olajuwon as breakfast juice inside a walk-in freezer with fellow service crew members. He also introduces us to his exes and lost first loves. He lends us a list of his fist fights, those he knocked down during drinking sessions or brawls, his antics in the field of love, and the truth behind escaping the convent. Sometimes he is a son, sometimes a father, and sometimes a friend who vividly shares without beating around the bush.

John Toledo is an emerging author, translator, and creative nonfictionist from the Philippines. He translated to English the Filipino original of the Six Saturdays of Beyblade and it was first published in the winter issue of the Asymptote Journal (2021). He currently writes criticism and essays about Philippine literature and pop culture in both Filipino and English. A graduate of the Filipino creative writing program at the University of the Philippines Diliman, Toledo teaches Filipino language, Philippine and World Literature and Creative Writing in various universities in the Philippines. Ferdinand Pisigan Jarin is one of the Philippine’ s foremost author and creative nonfictionist. He is the author of Six Saturdays of Beyblade and other Essays (originally Anim na Sabado ngBeyblade at Iba Pang Sanaysay), which won a National Book Award for Best Book of Nonfiction in Filipino in 2014 from the Manila Critics Circle and National Book Development Board and was a finalist for Madrigal-Gonzales First Best Book Award administered by the University of the Philippines Institute of Creative Writing (UP ICW).

Homecoming D’ Pol Pisigan Band The Ship Ball Boy Niog Repaks The Convent Service Crew Baclaran Six Saturdays of Beyblade