Crafting Speculative Fiction for Filipino Readers 

Reading is a journey for writers like Kenneth Yu. Aside from providing comfort and leisure, reading books has nurtured Yu’s passion for writing stories grounded in culture, human psychology, and the world beyond our imagination. 

Immersed in the stories he grew up with, Yu developed his unique imagination, which paved the way to forming a recognizable voice in modern Philippine literature through genre and speculative fiction. His love for stories that go beyond what we consider normal made our literary landscape more diverse and inventive. 

Yu is brave enough to craft a story that reflects our modern society by melding it with an unconventional narrative. He is unafraid to blend reality, making him confident to reimagine the boundaries of fiction.

So, with Chinoy TV, Yu shares his journey from developing his love of reading and storytelling to publishing his books. He shows how channeling his creativity through imagination led him to become a published author. 

How Reading Books Developed Yu’s Passion for Writing

Reading during his childhood has come full circle; he now offers his creative passion to Filipino readers by publishing his books “Mouths to Speak, Voices to Sing” (Penguin Random House SEA) and “The Greatest Fight of Sunny Granada and Other Stories.” (Anvil Publishing)  

But before becoming a published author, he had been an avid reader since elementary school. He grew up with like-minded friends with whom he went to the library and bookstores, where he found a community in reading. 

Yu shared, “This was back in the 1980s, we were typical nerds, so if you’ve seen Stranger Things, then just make the four leads Asian and transpose the setting to the Philippines and that’s us. We started by reading the Greek and Norse myths and were taken in by the adventure and wonder of these stories. From there, it was just a short jump to reading anything and everything.” 

Kenneth Yu with his speculative fiction book Mouths to Speak, Voices to Sing

Yu was also thankful to his teachers and librarians, who encouraged him to keep on reading. He shared that it helped that they actively supported his love for reading and even suggested other titles they could consider. 

“Just the fact that I fell in with a group of friends who loved reading and books and stories as much as I did. We shared the books we read with each other, and we tried to tell our own stories, even as kids. We were taken in by the wonder of the stories we read so much that we used our imaginations to tell our own stories,” Yu added.  

His childhood, filled with books, inspired him to write his own stories, but more than that, he also grew up in a culture where being studious was rewarded. 

Yu explained, “Chinoy upbringing puts a lot of virtue toward being studious, so having my nose in books all the time was equivalent to being focused on academics, so that was considered a positive.”

Yu indeed grew up with supportive people who shared his passion for reading. His upbringing paved the way for him to become a staunch reading advocate and to play a role in popularizing genre fiction in the Philippines.

Kenneth Yu in a book signing for Philippine literature  event

Yu’s Role in Popularizing Genre Fiction in the Philippines

Yu believed bookstores should have room for books in all categories “written in any language by writers from any country and background.” As a reader, he also values all stories, whether fiction or nonfiction, because every narrative deserves to be told. 

His inclusive mindset helped him realize that speculative fiction provides value to Philippine literature because he knew his stories would resonate with some Filipino readers. 

Yu shared, “I was not alone. There were a number of us, including Chinoys like Yvette Tan, who helped push genre fiction. Having grown up on genre fiction, one effect was to wonder where the genre fiction of other Filipinos was. Why weren’t they easy to find? The answer was that genre fiction was considered “unserious,” “not worth the time,” and “not true literature” by many of those who were in the creative writing field, including some of those in the academe.”

Despite the challenges Yu experienced, he continued to advocate for genre fiction by establishing a publication called “The Digest of Philippine Genre Stories.” He invited people to send in genre stories to be published. 

Through his efforts, Yu created a space for Filipino writers to promote genre fiction. He mentioned Yvette Tan for horror stories, Nikki and Dean Alfar for the Philippine Speculative Fiction anthologies, F.H Batacan for crime fiction, and Mina Esguerra for romance, as among others who championed genre fiction.   

As he formed a network of Filipino writers for these types of stories, Yu’s role in popularizing genre fiction in the Philippines slowly made an impact. Despite the cost, Yu continued to advocate for both established and newbie writers. 

He added, “We just kept on doing what we were doing through sheer stubbornness, and here we are. I am sure there is still opposition somewhere, but today’s circumstances are certainly different from years ago, and genre has found a place. It wasn’t a case of replacing what was already there but rather, growing the pie so that readers can have more selections of what they can read.”

His impact in popularizing genre fiction was evident during the Philippine Book Festival 2025, where Filipino writers (including Anthony Shieh and Yvette Tan)  published their books with Anvil Publishing, one of the biggest publishers in the Philippines, while his first collection was also available there through international publisher Penguin Random House SEA.  

We learned from Kenneth Yu to stick to your voice even if it sounds eccentric and nontraditional. Despite receiving criticism, he held the view that “a story is a story is a story”, that labels aren’t important, and when told well and honestly, those tales will find a way to resonate with the right readers. 

(From L to R:  Anthony Shieh, Yvette Tan, and Kenneth Yu) 

On Writing Speculative Fiction 

Inside his books, you can encounter an intergalactic boxing champion, a man who can hear a vase singing, a talking cricket, a sunken Metro Manila due to rising sea levels, and more stories that defy what we accept as reality. When I asked Kenneth how he conceptualizes unique concepts, he answered:

“I have a vague idea of my story, what the elements are, and like ingredients for a dish or a soup, I throw it all in–setting, situation, characters, some events–and see where it goes and how it turns out after stirring the pot. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. If you know your ingredients well enough and you stir it the right way, good things can come of the effort!”

True to his words, Yu’s story is an interesting concept of what our world would look like if we added different ingredients, concepts, and ideas, which makes him a writer who is what is called a pantser (free-flowing writing) compared to an outliner (having an outline for the story). 

His imaginative writing gives his work a quirky and even whimsical vibe. But this doesn’t mean that his narratives are less valuable because, through the lens of speculative fiction, we can also see the harsh truth of our own culture, psyche, and even human desire.

He explained, “I think that would be our cultural backgrounds and values. Our own mythology and folklore shaping our outlook in what we write since this is what we grew up with and are formed with. Our own people’s values, behavior, and settings will be reflected in the characters we write.” 

As part of the Chinoy community, you can also encounter stories with Filipino-Chinese culture, like “Cricket“ (podcasted by LeVar Burton Reads) and “Mouths to Speak, Voices to Sing.” It’s an interesting blend of genre fiction and Chinoy culture, showing how literature can reflect our heritage and identity. 

He added, “But when I turn on and try to explore being Chinoy in my stories, I try to study in particular the blend of the two cultures (Pinoy and Chinese), the values that they share (or that they don’t), and more often than not, I find that human beings are driven by the same experiences no matter their backgrounds, and it is made interesting against the backdrop of the cultures that influence behavior.” 

To make speculative fiction stories more impactful, it’s essential to learn that the center of the stories is the people. According to Yu, a story reflects and interprets the writer’s understanding of a human situation, making the narrative more authentic. 

“Rather, a writer observes and senses what is happening, studies people and their behavior, understands the setting and situations, engages the imagination (which is different for everyone because we are all spurred on by our different backgrounds), and then mixes that all together into a story,” Yu shared. 

Read, Just Read, and Keep on Reading

As one of the trailblazers in speculative fiction, Yu has faced many critics during his career. However, his perseverance in upholding his advocacy has anchored him to continue his purpose. 

He shared, “Maybe it comes from silencing both the inner critic and ignoring or not caring about external ones. Once you can ignore all your critics, especially yourself, the words can emerge more freely. Questioning yourself too much is a surefire way to halt the words, so not caring about these critics makes entering the worlds of your stories easier.” 

Silencing the critics has been helpful for Yu’s journey as a writer, but looking back, he also shared that the foundation of writing is to keep reading. 

He continued, “It’s advice for any writer: keep reading. Every writer will face obstacles, be it from a lack of time, naysayers, or something else. But keep on reading. Anything and everything. Fiction and non-fiction. Read in all genres, in any language, on various topics. Be curious about these things, then live life and closely observe events and situations and most especially people. Then if you find yourself wanting to write, do that, too.” 

His persistence and grit earned him being published and, most importantly, inspiring young writers to do the same. 

About the Author