About
Chuckberry J. Pascual

Chuckberry J. Pascual is a novelist, short story writer, and translator. He is the author of the young adult novel Mars, May Zombie! (Adarna House, 2022) and the short story collections Kumpisal: mga kuwento (University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, 2015), Hindi Ito Romansa (Sentro ng Wikang Filipino-UP Diliman, 2020), Bayan ng mga Bangkay (University of the Philippines Press, 2022), and Ang Nawawala (Visprint, 2017). Kumpisal: mga kuwento won the San Alberto Magno Best Book Award in the Dangal ng UST Awards in 2016. It was also a finalist in the 2016 National Book Awards, Gintong Aklat Awards, and the Madrigal-Gonzales Best First Book Award. Hindi Ito Romansa was released as a free download and part of the Aklatang Bayan-Online series of the Sentro ng Wikang Filipino. Bayan ng mga Bangkay was part of the 2022 Philippine Writers Series by the UP Institute of Creative Writing and UP Press. Ang Nawawala won Best Book of Short Fiction in Filipino at the National Book Awards 2018 and the San Alberto Magno Best Book at the Dangal ng UST Awards 2019. Its English translation by Ned Parfan, The Vanished (Avenida Books, 2023), received a translation grant from the National Book Development Board. 

He has also authored books on ethnography, literary criticism, and literary history such as Pagpasok sa Eksena: Ang Sinehan sa Panitikan at Pag-aaral ng Piling Sinehan sa Recto (University of the Philippines Press, 2016) Ang Labis na Mahalaga (UNITAS, 2023) and Ang Tagalabas sa Panitikan (University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, 2018). Pagpasok sa Eksena was part of The Media and Communication Series, a joint project of the Office of Research and Publications of the UP College of Mass Communication and UP Press. Ang Labis na Mahalaga was funded by a UST Research Center for Culture, Arts, and Humanities research grant. As an unpublished dissertation, Ang Tagalabas sa Panitikan won the Gawad Antonio Mercado Abad for Best Dissertation in 2015 at UP Diliman. As a published book, it won the San Alberto Magno Award for Best Published Research in Humanities and Cultural Studies in the Dangal ng UST Awards 2019. It was a finalist in the Creative Nonfiction category in the Gintong Aklat Awards.  

He translated four short story collections by Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo: Sa Bayan ng Nagngangalit na Buwan (University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, 2021), Kundiman ng Panahong Naiwan (University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, 2021), Mga Kuwentong Bayan para sa Gabing Maulan (University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, 2023) and Catch a Falling Star (Lampara Publishing House, 2021). His translation of Catch a Falling Star won in the 2022 Kids’ Choice Awards, Chapter Book category. It was a finalist in the 2022 Filipino Readers’ Choice Awards and the 40th National Book Awards in the Best Translation category. His translation of Miguel Syjuco’s Ilustrado (University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, 2022), the first and only Filipino novel to win the Man Asian Prize, received a translation grant from the National Book Development Board. It won Best Translated Work at the 41st National Book Awards.

He is a co-author with U Z. Eliserio and Maynard Manansala of Kolab: koleksiyon ng mga dula (University of the Philippines Press, 2018), a finalist in the 2019 National Book Awards. He co-edited two anthologies with Rolando Tolentino titled Plus/+, At Iba Plus, Maramihan: New Philippine Fiction and New Philippine Nonfiction on Sexual Orientations and Gender Identities (Ateneo University Press, 2023). The nonfiction anthology won Best Anthology in Filipino at the 41st National Book Awards. 

Pascual holds a PhD in Malikhaing Pagsulat sa Filipino from the University of the Philippines-Diliman. He teaches Literature and Creative Writing at the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters and the UST Graduate School. He also serves as a Resident Fellow of the UST Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies and as a Faculty Researcher of the UST Research Center for Culture, Arts and Humanities.

News and
updates

UST literature professor reaps two plums in 41st National Book Awards

A UST literature professor bagged two prizes in the 41st National Book Awards, an annual event recognizing the most outstanding books in the Philippines.

Assoc. Prof. Chuckberry Pascual won the best-translated book and best anthology awards in the Filipino category for his translation of Miguel Syjuco’s Ilustrado and his editing of Plus/+ at Iba Plus, Maramihan: New Philippine Nonfiction on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identities, respectively.

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Entering the Scene: The Movie Theater in Philippine Literature and a Study of Selected Movie Theaters in Recto – Harvard Yenching Institute [Book review]

The book presents a fascinating analysis of Philippine standalone movie theaters as homosexual spaces. By approaching the homosexualization of these establishments through an innovative combination of literary and sociocultural analysis, the author conveys a range of understandings of the space. The use of literary texts as a form of ethnography provides an interesting entry point in understanding the queer and possibly liberating potential of the movie theater such that it is within the confines of this space where norms are suspended, blurred, and remade.

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Si Chuck… | A Short Documentary Film | Káya Nga Production – Colegio de San Juan de Letran

Official Selection & Finalist for “Best Documentary” award in 2023 Student World Impact Film Festival (SWIFF)

A magnifying glass, a roll of tissue paper, and a movie ticket—a person sees these as mere objects, but Chuckberry J. Pascual sees these differently. Every object reflects a piece of his art, an amalgamation of his years as an author. From writing his favorite piece, ‘Ang Nawawala,’ to his most recent book, ‘Mars, May Zombie!,’ to producing, ‘Pagpasok Sa Eksena,’ as his most daring work to date, Chuckberry shares a fragment of his radiant soul. This is a documentary film about a queer writer; raw, soulful, and authentic.

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Chuckberry J. Pascual