Yvette Tan

Congratulations on your new book, Seams of Sedition: Sartorial Symbols in Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere, !

A lot of people tend to dismiss fashion as frivolous, not understanding that how people choose to look can be a huge insight on the culture and norms, economic policies, and political climate of that specific era. I love how looking at what people wore in one of the novels that helped secure our country’s independence helps cast light onto what society was back then and how national hero Jose Rizal used so many aspects that may be hidden to the modern reader (as it was hidden to readers then) to criticize and make fun of powers that be. This book is valuable not just to scholars, but also to history buffs, fashion obsessives, set and costume designers, and anyone who wants to examine our history from a different angle.

Looking forward to your next book! :D

I’ve been out of commission lately, so this is a super late post.

Thank you everyone for making Insect Hag part of your 2025! Thank you, readers, for making it a part of ’s PBF, MIBF, and Dia del Libro’s bestsellers, and for making it a part of ’s bestsellers from April to August, and then once again in October (we ran out of stock in September and had to reprint). It was also part of ’s Top 10 at one point!

Another pleasant surprise was the resurgence of interest in Seek Ye W***e.

Thank you to for publishing and distributing my books and for bookstores like and for carrying them, but really, none of this would have been possible if it weren’t for the readers who bought the book, read it, and loved it, and especially those who loved it enough to spread the word.

This also wouldn’t have been possible without booktokers liking it enough to review positively, and the book clubs who chose it as their book of the month. Getting published and distributed can only go so far. At the end of the day, a book’s success comes from its readers, and for this, I am deeply grateful. Thank you, everyone, for making my 2025 special. I’m happy to have spent the year with you.

Spooktober may be over, but it’s always a good time to pick up a creepy read.

Thank you very much, Lifestyle Asia, for including Seek Ye W***e and Other Stories in the same list as Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Shirley Jackson, and Junji Ito. To say I’m honored is an understatement! ☺️

Read the full list here:

LA Recommends: Horror Beyond The Big Screen From potently succinct nightmares to interactive scares, we pay homage to the Halloween season with a list of frights in every format.

New on the blog: I write about observing a Taoist space clearing.

http://yvettetan.com/2025/11/04/observing-a-taoist-space-clearing-ritual/

Lamumu Dolls Capiz, knitted dolls in the shape of popular creatures from folklore, have been taking over netizens’ feeds and hearts.

Read about it here: https://mb.com.ph/2025/10/15/these-cute-bag-charms-turn-local-folkloric-creatures-into-celebrated-icons

The jail garden is part of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) program called Halina’t Magtanim ng Prutas at Gulay (HAPAG) sa Piitan.

The PDLs are taught natural farming methods. The garden produces different crops depending on the season.

The produce can be sold to fellow PDLs or jail personnel. If there’s a bumper crop, it can be sold outside the jail. Most of the time though, harvests are for the consumption of PDLs and jail personnel.

Read about it here: https://mb.com.ph/2025/10/10/kalinga-jail-offers-inmates-life-skills

Our panel on Writing the Supernatural in Asia with writer and director and translator .ka, moderated by Julian Fuchs, Director and Head of Cultural Programs Goethe-Institut Manila. Thank you and for arranging this.

Panel on “Speculative Fiction and AI” with Dean Francis Alfar, moderated by Mina V. Esguerra at .

Shared a panel with Charlson Ong called “The Chinese in Our Stories,” moderated by Dina Ocampo at the .

I talked about how I was never made to feel welcome by the Chinese Filipino (Chinoy) community because I didn’t fit the mold of the “proper Chinese girl,” but how I am slowly trying to learn about my heritage on my own terms.

Later that day, a Chinoy based in Germany approached me to thank me for being honest about my experience. They, too, grew up feeling like an outsider, and they said that listening to me comforted them. I thanked him for taking the time to find me because his story was also a comfort to me, and it was a reminder to both of us that we are not alone.