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Skin Voices Faces
PRAISE FOR SKIN VOICES FACES: POEMS
Poetry. Some written in English and some written in Tagalog
"Danton Remoto is a very gifted young writer of poetry and prose."
Francisco Arcellana
National Artists for Literature
"His more appealing poems are memories of family and friends recollected with gently casual irony and understatement.... Danton's duende is at its most striking when indidual motive and social conscience converge to create an ambience of muted alarm and decorum."
Emmanuel Torres
"The Ateneo has produced the finest Filipino poets in the last three decades...(one of them) is Danton Remoto."
Alfred Yuson
Manila Chronicle
"Danton Remoto is a gifted writer. His poems have a contemporary flavor, dealing with topics that sloice open delicately but thoroughly the Filipino heart."
Philippine Dailyi Inquirer
"His writings form part of the Philippines' new heart."
James Hamilton-Paterson
Poetry. Some written in English and some written in Tagalog
"Danton Remoto is a very gifted young writer of poetry and prose."
Francisco Arcellana
National Artists for Literature
"His more appealing poems are memories of family and friends recollected with gently casual irony and understatement.... Danton's duende is at its most striking when indidual motive and social conscience converge to create an ambience of muted alarm and decorum."
Emmanuel Torres
"The Ateneo has produced the finest Filipino poets in the last three decades...(one of them) is Danton Remoto."
Alfred Yuson
Manila Chronicle
"Danton Remoto is a gifted writer. His poems have a contemporary flavor, dealing with topics that sloice open delicately but thoroughly the Filipino heart."
Philippine Dailyi Inquirer
"His writings form part of the Philippines' new heart."
James Hamilton-Paterson
- GenresPoetry
114 pages
First published January 1, 1991
4 people are currently reading
93 people want to read
About the author
Danton Remoto
37 books47 followersDanton Remoto was born on 25 March 1963 in Basa Air Base, Pampanga. He was an ASEAN scholar at the AdMU where he obtained his AB Interdisciplinary Studies in 1983. With his Robert Southwell scholarship, Remoto obtained his MA English Lit., 1989; then, on a British Council fellowship, another MA in publishing studies, 1990, at the University of Stirling, Scotland.
He was a Local fellow for poetry at the UP Creative Writing Center, 1994. He was at Hawthornden Castle, 1993, and later, at the Cambridge Seminar. Remoto teaches at AdMU where he manages the Office of Research and Publishing. He is also studying for his Ph.D. in creative writing at UP. He was an associate of PLAC and a member of the Manila Critics Circle since 1989.
He has won various awards, among them, the ASEAN prize for the essay, 1979; the Palanca for the essay in 1987; the CCP literary award for poetry; the Stirling District Arts Council award for poetry and the short story.
Among his works: Skin , Voices , Faces , Anvil, 1991; Black Silk Pajamas / Poems in English and Filipino , Anvil, 1996. He edited Buena Vista [Alfrredo Navarro Salanga's poems and fiction], 1989 and co-ed., Gems in Philippine Literature , 1989. More importantly, he has co-edited the Ladlad series with J. Neil Garcia.
He was a Local fellow for poetry at the UP Creative Writing Center, 1994. He was at Hawthornden Castle, 1993, and later, at the Cambridge Seminar. Remoto teaches at AdMU where he manages the Office of Research and Publishing. He is also studying for his Ph.D. in creative writing at UP. He was an associate of PLAC and a member of the Manila Critics Circle since 1989.
He has won various awards, among them, the ASEAN prize for the essay, 1979; the Palanca for the essay in 1987; the CCP literary award for poetry; the Stirling District Arts Council award for poetry and the short story.
Among his works: Skin , Voices , Faces , Anvil, 1991; Black Silk Pajamas / Poems in English and Filipino , Anvil, 1996. He edited Buena Vista [Alfrredo Navarro Salanga's poems and fiction], 1989 and co-ed., Gems in Philippine Literature , 1989. More importantly, he has co-edited the Ladlad series with J. Neil Garcia.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 26, 2020
first of all, the cover has nothing to do with the content inside which was kind of disappointing. i thought this collection will consist mostly of erotica etc. and i was wrong.
the poems are really nice and formed in a very traditional 'poetic' sense form-wise and metaphorically. it's the type you would've seen in Literature textbooks from the 90s and perhaps til today. there's not much of experimentation but that's all ok because these are still mostly refined work. many pieces are descriptive illustrations capturing a particular moment any matured Filipino may recall from memory: mourning old women, nostalgia over a Lolo you've never met, dragonflies in a garden, single pregnant cousins, deaths on newspapers, etc.
when not celebrating the solemn beauty of family and ordinary life, the poems lament the violence of the Marcos dictatorship and declining livelihoods but often ends with whispers of hope that it all had ended and now a new day is about to begin.
recurring themes include sadness as you already know it, quiet affection for your kin, appreciating beauty of nature, and again, violence of man against man. there is not much especially ~new~ motifs here but i guess that's understandable with most of these pieces being part of Philippine poetry's revitalization after the Marcos regime. the act of writing alone was somewhat noble and novel in itself.
read this if you're::
*nostalgic about Pinoy city/probinsya life in the 80s/90s
*looking for classical/traditional poetry that touches on typical subjects such as sadness at night and loving mothers
*looking to get disappointed by a book that features shirtless Raymond Bagatsing on the cover but actually has no relation to him or all THAT hot skin
the poems are really nice and formed in a very traditional 'poetic' sense form-wise and metaphorically. it's the type you would've seen in Literature textbooks from the 90s and perhaps til today. there's not much of experimentation but that's all ok because these are still mostly refined work. many pieces are descriptive illustrations capturing a particular moment any matured Filipino may recall from memory: mourning old women, nostalgia over a Lolo you've never met, dragonflies in a garden, single pregnant cousins, deaths on newspapers, etc.
when not celebrating the solemn beauty of family and ordinary life, the poems lament the violence of the Marcos dictatorship and declining livelihoods but often ends with whispers of hope that it all had ended and now a new day is about to begin.
recurring themes include sadness as you already know it, quiet affection for your kin, appreciating beauty of nature, and again, violence of man against man. there is not much especially ~new~ motifs here but i guess that's understandable with most of these pieces being part of Philippine poetry's revitalization after the Marcos regime. the act of writing alone was somewhat noble and novel in itself.
read this if you're::
*nostalgic about Pinoy city/probinsya life in the 80s/90s
*looking for classical/traditional poetry that touches on typical subjects such as sadness at night and loving mothers
*looking to get disappointed by a book that features shirtless Raymond Bagatsing on the cover but actually has no relation to him or all THAT hot skin
November 2, 2025
Took me some while to read through the poems of this book, which, from what I've seen, are all very much personal and intimate. Meaning, most or some of his works are dedicated, if not to specific people in the author's life, then to the community itself, as some are political. Nonetheless, alike to the other commentors for this book, I am very much perplexed with the chosen cover for this collection, haha.
August 16, 2022
The book cover did not match the content but I think somehow it captured the recurring theme of sadness beside the familial narrative of some poems. Some poems describe the aftermath of Marcos regime and as a genre that tries to build itself again that time, this book stood up and at present it is a reminder and also a waypoint to go back to.
January 10, 2011
This is not the edition of the book that I had. Mine is now history, taken away by the massive flood of September 2009. That's another story.
This book was one of the first poetry books I bought when I was just getting into writing. It was very accessible, sometimes seemed too simple. I think it had to do with the language and the natural flow of thoughts in each poem. Nothing was forced or made to feel complicated - which is an amazing skill in poetry. Remoto's words came like summer rain to a parched, young mind. It made me feel that poetry was not something to be scared of, that it could come from the smallest and most personal of moments, and that it can also be a weapon in dark and troubled times.
This book was one of the first poetry books I bought when I was just getting into writing. It was very accessible, sometimes seemed too simple. I think it had to do with the language and the natural flow of thoughts in each poem. Nothing was forced or made to feel complicated - which is an amazing skill in poetry. Remoto's words came like summer rain to a parched, young mind. It made me feel that poetry was not something to be scared of, that it could come from the smallest and most personal of moments, and that it can also be a weapon in dark and troubled times.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews