16 October 2023

The case of the vanished parcel

 

One of my anticipated works in translation is The Vanished (Ang Nawawala), a collection of linked stories by Chuckberry Pascual, translated by Ned Parfan (19th Avenida Publishing, 2023). I was previously on the hunt for the original Filipino edition but I could no longer find it online. It was already out of print.

So I ordered the translation online on October 1. It was taking unusually long to arrive.

Then last weekend I checked the delivery tracker in my account. Alas, the whereabouts of the translated book was unaccounted for. The delivery status report indicated that the book might have vanished. Without a trace. As in gone.

The last message was on a Friday the 13th.