E.P. Tuazon's collection of short stories A Professional Lola is a poignant, sly examination of their diasporic Filipino American community, told through interactions with extended family, intimate friends, adoptive/adaptive cultural clashes, and, of course, delectable food.
The opening and closing narratives, both featuring missing grandparents, are memorable bookends to the collection's 13 stories. In "Professional Lola," a "strange trend spread[s] through the Filipino community"--hiring a "propesynal na artista" to "act like your deceased lola [grandmother]." The narrator's initial wariness dissipates during his nephew's multigenerational birthday party as he bears witness to, then experiences for himself, Lola's unconditional love. In "Carabao," a young grandson struggles with the inexplicable transformation of his powerful Lolo (grandfather) into housedress-wearing, nail-painted Lola. Remembering the provenance of the "old carabao bell around her neck"--worn by Filipino water buffaloes whipped into performing the heaviest farm labor--helps the boy finally understand his beloved grandparent's bravery.
In between, stories are otherworldly: three middle-school teachers cast spells during book club in "Blood Magic"; a teen visits his missing father's isolated island in "Far from Home." A few feature siblings raised oceans apart: an American brother is haunted by his Filipino brother's fiery death in "Barong," two separated half-siblings meet because of their late father and his supernatural obsessions in "After Bigfoot." Parents and children clash in "Promise Me More" and "Handog."
Tuazon's cover deservedly displays "WINNER of the Grace Paley Prize in Short Fiction." Their stories resonate with an assured simplicity: "Writers know how to write what they see. Nothing more, nothing less," a character shrewdly notes. Tuazon observes, records, and illuminates. --Terry Hong