For Canadian Filipino writer GK Limcangco, writing has always been a huge part of her healing journey.
“I have always kept a journal since I was a child,” she said.
Her love for writing manifested itself in “dear diaries” type of journals which proved to be therapeutic for the budding writer. “It became more than a creative release.”
Limcangco wrote for various online publications based in Manila, Vancouver, and Seattle, doing fluff pieces and concert and album reviews before her dreams of publishing a book finally materialized. She is also a Canadian Filipino Net (CFNet) contributor.
“When I came to terms how important writing is for me, I promised myself that I was going to publish a book, I just had no idea I would venture into poetry,” she explained.
She started working on her poetry book Empty Full after feeling the need to do something more purposeful in her life. The idea of a poetry book became crystal clear after picking up two of Rupi Kaur’s books.
“I had poems that I wrote years ago, even decades ago which I pulled from different journals and started to put them together,” she said. “I picked some photos to add more colour and life to my words and when I finished, I approached a self-publishing company based in Victoria to help me with the publishing process”.
Empty Full is a collection of poems that talks about matters of the heart and breaking it down to these feelings: empty, full, heavy, and light.
Growth and healing are magnified in the book that even with all the loss and heartache that came through from its pages, the reader will feel the need to pause and reflect. There is also a spiritual theme in the book which highlighted soul growth and love.
“My poems were published hoping to inspire people who are going through heart breaks or wanting to celebrate their simple feelings of joy,” she explained. “I’ve always wanted to nudge people to look inwards and make them listen to their hearts because oftentimes, we would choose to listen to our ego or try to shut down our emotions when it gets too heavy.”
Empty Full is available through Amazon and Chapters -
https://www.amazon.ca/Empty-Full-Gk-Limcangco/dp/0228813204
https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/empty-full/9780228813200-item.html
GK Limcangco is also giving away 100 E-books via GoodReads to US-based readers. Entries are open until December 3, 2019 -https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/299712-empty-full
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Emmy Buccat is a donor relations professional at the University of British Columbia’s Development and Alumni Engagement office. She supports the communications, stewardship and events team in keeping donors informed, involved and engaged. She moved to Canada in 2008, bringing 10 years of experience in marketing communications, public relations and event management for brand FujiXerox and Speedo. She has a degree in journalism from the University of Santo Tomas, Asia’s oldest university, and a certificate in integrated marketing strategy from UBC’s Sauder School of Business.
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