Thomas Leonard Shaw is a student at the University of the Philippines Diliman where he has spent the last three years learning and unlearning about the world and himself. Once a Creative Writing student and Palanca Foundation scholar, Thomas now majors in Comparative Literature, and studies what it means to be a writer and critic in this global age of cultural and artistic production. With a research interest in memory studies and the intersections between literature and nation formation, he hopes to one day teach literature and to help organize the first writing workshop in Siargao.

            Not recognizing the nightmare of university life, he now finds himself in perpetual transit between the island of Siargao and the urban metropolis of Metro Manila. Knowing the intricacies and difficulties of arrival and departure, he always arrives at the airport three hours before his flight.