[Hot Off the Press] Antimarcos

New book Antimarcos defies the boundaries of the novel to reveal truths about Philippine society 

What do you do when you wake up one day with a missing heart? A missing notebook? A missing history? What horrors will occur on your journey to find them? The Ateneo University Press releases Antimarcos, an intensely experimental work that transgresses the boundaries of genre while revealing the intricate historical transgressions committed against the common Filipino by those in power.

It is the 23rd year of Kommander Kulas Korazon. Upon waking up, he discovers that his heart is missing. This sets into motion a rape and murder spree that fails to end even with his death. Winner of the 2022 Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature Grand Prize for the Nobela, Antimarcos boldly explores and questions the very limits and standards of the Filipino language. It is playful with its themes and forms. It is loud with its symbolism. It is maximalist with its execution, employing various narrative structures, sonnet-like poems, historical texts, and blog-like entries. While the book operates as an anti-novel, an anti-poem, and an anti-book against everything, even itself, interwoven within the text is a rich and extensive knowledge of Philippine art, literature, history, pop culture, politics, and life that exposes how government corruption aims to keep the Filipino people disempowered. Fueled by Khavn’s signature eclectic mind and eccentric spirit, all such elements lead to a visceral and jarring work that will confound readers but also leave them hungry for more.

Resil B. Mojares, National Artist for Literature and author of Origins and Rise of the Filipino Novel: A Generic Study of the Novel until 1940, praises the author for their ambitious take on the novel: "Genre-bending, border-crossing, and risk-taking writers unsettle the literary field. This keeps the field open, vital, and alive. Intellectually adventurous, inventive, and promiscuous, Khavn is a writer Philippine literature needs."

Soledad S. Reyes, prolific scholar and author of Nobelang Tagalog, 1905–1975: Tradisyon At Modernismo, highlights the uniqueness of the book: “A labyrinth. An experimental and very anti-realistic text. Breaks the rules and conventions of the novel  and problematizes taken-for-granted views about literature.”

Antimarcos is a book filled with surprises. With all its twists and turns, it is a puzzle whose parts you will never be able to fully predict. It is perfect for readers who enjoy challenges—those who dare to brave into the unknown and the baffling truths it might reveal to them. 

About the Author 

Father of the Philippine No Wave movement, Khavn has made 300+ films including Balangiga: Howling Wilderness (Urian and Famas Best Picture); 15 books of poetry, fiction, and film studies; 40 albums, including the spoken word poetry album Dilang-Putol and the releases of The Brockas, Fando & Lis, and Khavn & The Kontra-Kino Orchestra. He has also received the Palanca for his short story “Ang Pamilyang Kumakain ng Lupa” and his poems in the collection Larombata. He has juried in Berlinale, Clermont-Ferrand, CPH:DOX, Jeonju, BiFan, Jihlava, New Horizons, and Dok Leipzig and has exhibited in Venice, Rotterdam, Oberhausen, at the Venice Architecture Biennale, MoMA, MAXXI, Guggenheim, Tate, National Museum of Singapore, and Museo Reina Sofia. He has lectured at Jihlava Academy, Bela Tarr’s Film Factory, Goethe Institut, and Danish Film Institute and has curated for Viennale, Edinburgh IFF, and Sharjah Biennial. He co-edited Under the Storm, an anthology of contemporary Philippine poetry, and published comics, zines, and other underground literature. 

Antimarcos by Khavn is published by the Ateneo de Manila University Press under the Bughaw imprint. The book retails at PHP 695 and is available at the Ateneo University Press Bookshop in Bellarmine Hall, and the Press’s official Lazada and Shopee stores.

Get your copy in paperback: Website│Lazada and Shopee