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Joyce Pring lends her voice to 'Dear Universe', PHL's first audiobook
"Dear Universe: Poems on love, longing, and finding your place in the cosmos" is Pierra Calasanz-Labrador’s second poetry collection, a follow-up to her self-published collection "The Heartbreak Diaries."
This time around, she has teamed up with Anvil Publishing’s Spark Books and illustrator Fran Alvarez to share an introspective journey that will take you through love spells and heartbreaks and everything in between.
If her first collection could be likened to an “ugly cry,” the 50 poems in this second book talk about dreams, secrets, and things we don’t always voice out, but most of us can relate to. It’s a beautiful reminder to anyone who feels lost or unsure that you are not alone.
But the book also marks a milestone for Anvil; through "Dear Universe," the publishing house launches the imprint Anvil Audio. Which means Pierra become "the first author to get an audio treatment by a local publisher."
Enter Joyce Pring. The Kapuso host took on the duties bringing to life all 50 poems of Pierra. At the launch on Saturday, Joyce told us about her experience.
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How did you get involved with the project and what made you say yes?
They sent me an email asking if i was interested to be a part of it and specifically to narrate an audiobook but they didn't tell me what book it was.
They did tell me it was for a poetry collection and being a fan of poetry — books in general — I wanted to be a part of it.
I always tell people it was one of those things that I didn't realize I wanted to do. You know one of those things na parang di mo akalain na it was a dream of yours and then eventually when it’s laid out in front of you you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve always wanted to do that.’
I’ve been a fan of audiobooks ever since traffic in Manila got super hectic and incredibly difficult and so I couldn’t read and I didn’t have a driver at that time. Now I have the bad habit of reading while in the car. But before I would just listen, download, and buy audiobooks in the app—Audible, iTunes—and then just play that when I'm in traffic or when I'm traveling so that's why I wanted to do it.
What was it like working on this compared to your other jobs such as hosting?
It was...challenging, I think would be the word. It involved a lot of acting or putting yourself into situations that the author Pierra was in, so when she was going through heartbreak, I had to be there. When she was going through a first date, I had to be there.
When she was going through a piece that, you know, evoked a certain emotion, I knew I had to put across in a way that I narrated her words or at least I really wanted to give life or bring life into the beautiful words that she had. I had to do that so it was far more difficult than I expected it to be.
And it’s very different than radio or hosting because I’d like to think that with radio and hosting there is a lot of spontaneity that goes on. Like you want to be on your toes, use your personality, but this one, I had to be someone else’s voice. And it was wonderful.
You mentioned it's your first time to record an audiobook — have you done spoken word before?
I do like to do impromptu spoken word when I sing live at gigs, so yes, I do that. Spoken word maybe on radio almost every day it feels like that because you get to experience and express yourself in that same platform and way.
How long did it take to record the audiobook?
We had two sessions of mga 6 hours each. The first one siguro mga 5 hours and then the last one ‘yung mas mahaba.
Do you have a favorite poem by Pierra that you recorded?
I liked "Wings." I liked "Dear Universe."
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"This Little Piggy", that was also pretty heartbreaking. It’s the most heartbreaking one but I think that’s my most favorite one of all.
What’s your favorite poem, book, or author?
I love C.S. Lewis. He’s number one on my list right now. I also like reading Ravi Zacharias; Neil Gaiman—I've become a huge fan of. Stephen King although gives me nightmares so not anymore. I'm currently reading Tim Keller. I like Tim Keller also. Off the top of my head, ‘yun ‘yung mga favorites ko. I love Donna Tartt also, she’s very good.
I love reading novels and fiction but now I have actually acquired a taste for philosophical books and Christian apologetics, so I’m gearing towards that. But every now and then, when I want to just release my brain from too much thinking, I do fiction. I recently read "Ready Player One" because I watched the movie. It’s pretty good, ha. The book is pretty good.
Are you going to do more projects like this? Whose work would you love to read or perform in the future?
Oh my. An audiobook of anyone? I remember reading, I forgot the title of that Hemingway. Siguro mga Fitzgerald na book para class. Ang ganda kasi… When you read any of his works, parang sobrang flowery the words. I love reading his books so maybe that. Or actually, Haruki Murakami. If there’s one author I love and whose books I think I can narrate in my personality...because it’s very emotional kind of writing and flowery words also. Murakami would be good.
Did you visit libraries when you were younger? Why do you think it’s important that people read?
Yes, that’s what we did when we were younger, di ba? One, what I notice when I read is that my way of speaking, the way that I conjure sentences are much better than when I don't. Two, it stirs up so much creativity and imagination for one person. Three, it’s a great way to stay away from screens. I love ebooks but I don’t think they can ever replace an actual book. A real book you know that you can touch and feel and smell.
I also think it’s such a great way to go on an adventures that we can’t on our own like in this lifetime. There are so many adventures to be had and we can’t really do it by traveling and doing all of these things. And I think books are able to open up the gates for us.
Do you listen to podcasts? Which are some of your favorite ones to listen to?
My favorites now are Freakonomics Radio, Art of Charm, RZIM’s Let the People Think, Pastor John Piper’s Desiring God. Those are the top that I listen to. I also like Louder With Crowder. It’s pretty good, medyo wild lang siya. Hindi naman wild, parang masyado siyang opinionated.
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If you could have your own podcast, what would it be about?
I’d probably do one for women because I don’t think there are many. I was looking for good materials for women but wala masyado nag-po-produce. Me specifically probably because I’m a Christian, biblical womanhood. It would be something I could really expound on living in the modern era, modern world as a Christian woman. — LA, GMA News
Dear Universe: Poems On Love, Longing, And Finding Your Place In The Cosmos is available for P395 at National Book Store and Powerbooks branches and online at www.anvilpublishing.com. The digital audiobook and audio CD editions are available at Amazon, Audible, Kobo, iTunes, and other major e-retailers.
