Renato Gandia
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renatogandia.bsky.social
Renato Gandia
@renatogandia.bsky.social
Filipino-Canadian writer crafting fiction and nonfiction that explores the lives of Filipinos in diaspora. Stories rooted in identity, migration, and connection. Always searching for the heart in every narrative.
Wrapped up Pitching Day at the Gotham Writers Fiction Conference. As a newbie author, I learned so much from a couple of generous literary agents who offered thoughtful feedback and insight. Feeling grateful and energized to keep refining Anatomy of Compersion. #WritingCommunity #GothamWriters
October 5, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Pitching Anatomy of Compersion today at the @gothamwriters.bsky.social Fiction Conference — a literary novel about love stretched to its limits, where a marriage unravels and a new kind of family is born. Excited (and a little nervous) to share this story. #WritingCommunity #GothamWriters
October 5, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Writing about deeply personal topics is both a challenge and a necessity. As I worked on Redeeming Renato: A Memoir, I found myself confronting painful truths about faith, sexuality, and cultural identity. The process was often unsettling.

Read more: renatogandia.com/2025/03/12/w...
March 12, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Reposted by Renato Gandia
Four beers to remember the unjustly killed in the name of a drug war, the journalists and lawyers murdered in cold blood, those hounded for speaking the truth about the bloody regime. Four beers as a vast understatement for six years of corruption, plunder, and lies. The work of justice awaits.
March 11, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Christmas 2023. In the warmth of my brother-in-law’s house in Manitoba, laughter and holiday scents filled the air—but I kept retreating to the basement. I was writing. Find out more about my foray into the world of memoirs.
renatogandia.com/2025/03/10/w...
Writing Redeeming Renato: A journey of faith, craft, and perseverance
It was Christmas of 2023, and I was in the basement of my brother-in-law’s house in Manitoba, surrounded by the warmth of family but retreating, again and again, to the solitude of my laptop screen…
renatogandia.com
March 11, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Reposted by Renato Gandia
Let’s show our national spirit, fly our beloved flag and support Team Canada🇨🇦

Choose Canadian products and businesses when possible. Protect our economy.

Like in any family, we can squabble among ourselves, but no outsider gets to mess with Canada!

Agree? Re-post.

#cdnpoli #ableg #TeamCanada
January 25, 2025 at 1:08 AM
Reposted by Renato Gandia
Only three weeks left to enter! creativenonfictioncollective.ca/cnf-contest/
January 25, 2025 at 8:01 PM
This year, I’m deeply grateful for the milestones in my writing journey. Getting published in a book was a validation of my voice, but more importantly, I learned to be discerning about what people truly want from me and my writing. #Writerslife #FilipinoCanadianWriter
December 31, 2024 at 9:54 AM
Reposted by Renato Gandia
Some have already shared their 2024 achievements and goals for 2025, while you feel like time just slipped by. You may feel you haven’t achieved much and that’s OK. Look. You made it through the past 365 days and you're still moving forward, one day and one hour at a time; that's a big deal!
December 30, 2024 at 9:55 PM
This season holds a quiet magic for writers. Beyond the bustling markets and twinkling lights, there’s a space where we retreat, not to escape the world, but to observe it more keenly. Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas! #WritingCommunity #WritersLife #FilipinoCanadian
December 25, 2024 at 10:29 PM
Reposted by Renato Gandia
The real luxuries in life.
December 14, 2024 at 1:22 AM
Reposted by Renato Gandia
A reminder that T. S. Eliot had the problems of today figured out 103 years ago in his essay and poetry collection "The Sacred Wood."
December 14, 2024 at 1:26 AM
The Remnants We Keep. That’s the prompt for this piece, which is the theme of www.everythingisurgent.com first edition. I’m grateful for the chance to be part of this project! #WritersCommunity #PinoyWriter
December 12, 2024 at 8:48 PM
Reposted by Renato Gandia
During this season of giving, we recommend swapping work-in-progress with a writing friend. Give feedback, get feedback. It's a nice way to connect and help each other.
December 12, 2024 at 12:32 AM
Had the chance to chat with Christina Pantoja Hidalgo, and she’s as warm and insightful as you’d imagine! Such a cool, down-to-earth conversation that left me thinking about how much stories really connect us. Definitely feeling recharged to keep writing! #FilipinoWriters #WritingCommunity
November 30, 2024 at 2:52 AM
Spent an evening hanging out with the ever-brilliant Niles Jordan Breis. His wit and wisdom are only matched by his effortless charm. Conversations with him always leave me inspired—and laughing, too. #CreativeMinds #WritingFriends #WritingCommunity #PhilippineLiterature
November 30, 2024 at 2:45 AM
1/ I’ve always imagined returning to the Philippines unannounced—not out of malice, but for peace. No spectacle, no orchestrated reunions. Just me, showing up, a quiet presence in a familiar chaos. 🧵
November 24, 2024 at 7:18 PM
TFW one of the reviewers of the piece you penned says, “I love how visceral your imagery is. From the crunch of the gravel to the smell of the ocean, you really painted a picture that transported me using all my senses. Really wonderful piece. It's one that will stick with me.” #WritingCommunity
November 22, 2024 at 12:28 PM
Testing out Bluesky and stepping into a new digital space! Writer-storyteller, exploring the threads that connect people, love, and identity. Currently writing shorts on contemporary relationships and LGBTQ+ themes; reflecting on my own memoir of faith, sexuality, and belonging. #WritingCommunity
November 22, 2024 at 12:07 PM