There are three wellsprings for this book. The first is the universe of Pilipino myths and folklore used by my elders, caretakers, and relatives to instruct me as a child, a wondrous and terrifying parallel narrative to the western science fiction and fantasy I also devoured. The second is a love of nature borne of my experiences in my father’s home of Romblon, the most magical tropical island a boy could ever wish for. The last is kulintang music, which has become the rhythmic score to my life as an immigrant here in the United States.
An anti-colonial fantasy novel, Musalaya’s Gift compels the reader to ponder the effects of colonization-how Filipinos view themselves and their relationship to their indigeneity-as it celebrates the power of indigenous music and culture for resistance and healing.
Reviews:
“Conrad Benedicto’s debut novel takes us on a whirlwind of an adventure featuring tall tales, fantastic creatures, and everyday characters who range from the horrifying to the heroic—winged beasts that separate at the waist, giants made of stone and wood, and common-folk family members who reveal themselves as deft warriors. At the heart of it all is a young musician who has to reckon with his personal talents and place in the tradition. Will he rise to meet the challenge? Benedicto yolks rich Philippine folklore with a heritage of anti-colonial resistance in a way that is rare to find in Filipinx American literature.”
Theodore S. Gonzalves, PhD, Author of The Day the Dancers Stayed: Performing in the Filipino/American Diaspora
Kulintang Dialect is a traditional five instrument kulintang band that performs kulintang classics as well as my own original compositions. Kulintang Dialect has released multiple albums available on all platforms via Gongs Away Music.
We perform the traditional kulintang music—passed down by the late Master Danongan Kalanduyan—with fidelity, while also exploring with joy and courage how this music can express itself in new ways that are nourished by our own specific context on this American soil.
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Collaborations
HIGHLIGHTS
Filipino American International Book Fest Gala
San Jose Delano Manongs Park Dedication
San Francisco Parol Festival
“‘Musalaya’s Gift’ may fall under the genre of fantasy novel but it’s more than this. I would file this under ‘indigenous futurism’ because it returns the reader to the Filipino indigenous mythic world that is being reclaimed in this novel by Conrad Benedicto. The sound of the Kulintang gongs in the hands of a young warrior, Alad, and in the context of a communal ceremony, becomes the Medicine that exorcises the evil that has descended upon the Lukat and restores the people to their Wholeness.”
Leny Mendoza Strobel, PhD,Professor Emeritus in American Multicultural Studies at Sonoma State University, author, and founding member of the Center for Babaylan Studies
conradjbenedicto.com 