Welcome to my artist page! I’m John Pucay, an author, essayist, and short filmmaker.
Feel free to read my selected stories below. You can learn more about me, my novel, and my short film at the bottom.
Creative Non-Fiction (Personal Essays)
I often write about relationships, polyamory, running, life, and making a living as an artist. If you like and/or relate to these pieces, please feel free to reach out: john@johnpucay.com; Instagram @johnpucay
- Soulless 9-5, 2 a.m. walks (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
- Celebrating Valentine’s As a Polyamorous Quad (Vice)
- Polyamory and the nuances of having multiple partners (Rappler)
- A Man And A Child Died In An Accident. I Survived (Your Tango)
- Summer Job (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Medium
These are some of my most-read nonfiction pieces on the writing platform, Medium, where I earned Top Writer status for memoir-type pieces. Since Medium is paywalled, I am sharing a special link that allows you to read these short essays for free.
To read more of my work on Medium, feel free to visit johnpucay.medium.com
- Trying to Make a Living as an Artist (Pursuing art despite a financially challenged background)
- 3 Requests on a Last date (A long-term couple meets for the final time)
- A Night of Dancing With the Cool Kids (I’ve never been ‘cool’ as a teenager. I try to experience that now)
- How to Lose a Victory (Sometimes your morale makes all the difference)
- Childhood Wishes Have an Expiration Date (Attaining childhood wishes as an adult)
- I Found Comfort and Peace in the Darkness (The mountain is a strange, serene place at midnight)
- I Threw Away 3 Different Drafts To Complete My First Novel (Before I finally published it)
Fiction (Literary fiction, magical realism)
Unlike my essays, I have much fewer published fiction works. That’s likely because my fiction writing tends to be longer, like my novel, or ranges into 4000-word or so stories. I have several on my laptop, but they’re not ready to go into the world yet. Soon.
Ta-nong (University of the Philippines Diliman — Likhaan Journal)
The unnamed narrator relies on his memories as a carefree twelve-year-old to conduct an indigenous spiritual cleansing ritual for his foreign-returned cousin, who requested the ritual for mysterious reasons…
The Average of All Mediocre Success (Philippines Graphic Reader)
At two o’clock on a Tuesday afternoon, Max, the average of all mediocre success, experienced the lowest point of his music career: Nothing dramatic like being kicked out of a record label’s office under a pouring rain or receiving threats from an irate landlord about an overdue rent payment, but…
Missing Quarantine Pass (UP Likhaan Journal)
It started with an unbearable craving for strawberries…
The Weight of Freedom (Anomaly Journal of Literature & Arts)
At a young age, Naila had learned that milking the government for money was her best route to a better life. There are important things in the world accessible only to the privileged, so she learned to climb the floors of an invisible, commonly denied social caste. The government was her ladder. “A bureaucratic world is only looking for two things: impeccable papers, and a convincing face to present them.” Naila’s old mentor, The Councilor, used to say. “Do this and government coffers will open up to you, like a flower.”
A Ghost in Quarantine (Brittle Star Literary Magazine — UK)
My contact list is filled with friends, family, former work colleagues, and acquaintances I can technically message, out of the blue, to talk to — especially when they’re posting things like “message me if you need someone to talk to #Quarantine, #MentalHealth” on social media — but I don’t message any of them because I can’t really talk to them…
About Me (Professional Bio)
John Pucay (pronounced Poo-khay) writes about life, relationships, running, polyamory, and trying to make a living as an artist. His novel on 2020s dating, Karinderya Love Songs, was named one of Fully Booked Reading Allies‘ favorite books of 2022. He is the 1st prize winner of the 2023 Jimmy Balacuit Literary Awards (MSU-IIT, NCCA) for short fiction. And his short film, Game Boy Advance, is an official selection in the San Diego Filipino Film Festival 2024. Most recently, he received the 2025 Alumni Award from the Iceland Writers Retreat, co-founded by former First Lady of Iceland Eliza Reid and editor Erica Jacobs Green.
His short stories have been published in the Likhaan Journal of the University of the Philippines-Diliman, Anomaly Literary Journal, and Brittle Star (UK). While his creative non-fiction essays have appeared in Vice, Rappler, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Your Tango, and Thought Catalog, among others. The eldest son of a jeepney driver, John belongs to the Kankanaey-Ibaloi indigenous tribes of Cordillera.
More details about him and his work are available at johnpucay.com. Email him your thoughts: john@johnpucay.com; Instagram @johnpucay
Professional bio aside…
I quit my corporate profession in 2020 to pursue writing full-time. Being the eldest son of a jeepney driver, I couldn’t afford to leisurely write without earning from it. So far:
- As a full-time, independent writer, I make my living solely from two platforms: Substack, where I write the newsletters, Artist Analysis and Writing to (L)Earn, and readers support me through their monthly or yearly subscription fees; and Medium, where my articles earn based on reader engagement. Thankfully, I earn enough to pay my bills and fund my most expensive labors of love — my short films.
- I finished and published my debut novel, Karinderya Love Songs, in 2022, after throwing away three different drafts.
- I also finished production on two short films. As mentioned, they are a pair of very expensive, self-funded labors of love. Game Boy Advance, which I finished in 2023, premiered at the SDFFF in October of 2024. The other one, which had just finished filming, is undergoing post-production.
- Had my FIRST tattoo at the 62nd Silliman University National Writers Workshop, the oldest creative writing program in Southeast Asia. The SUNWW is a two-week literary workshop where I was awarded a 2024 fellowship for short fiction. The experience made such an impact that my co-fellows and I inked our skin to mark it.
- Prior to SUNWW, I was also awarded a fellowship in the Iligan National Writers Workshop in 2023. INWW is the third-oldest literary workshop in the Philippines.
- Most recently, I received the 2025 Alumni Award from the Iceland Writers Retreat, co-founded by former First Lady of Iceland Eliza Reid and editor Erica Jacobs Green. (I was among the six chosen, out of 1,200 applicants. So I’m thankful I got in!) Being a poor country bumpkin, this will be my first ever trip outside of Southeast Asia!
Karinderya Love Songs — a novel on 2020s dating and relationships
Set in the 2020s, the 23-year-old unnamed narrator is recovering from a bad breakup. He meets Kayla, a college freshman he approached at a cafe. And they spend a Viagra-assisted night together. Then they each confess a secret. She had two abortions. And he can’t get an erection unless his partner is cheating on someone by sleeping with him.
The narrator, Kayla, and R — a friend who broke off her engagement — spend drunken nights in Metro Manila and Baguio City. They purge all that alcohol through mountain excursions. And they struggle against a modern dating landscape akin to a Filipino karinderya: Bland, readily available food that gorges but doesn’t sate.
Karinderya Love Songs is a Fully Booked Reading Allies’ favorite book of 2022.
KLS is available on Amazon. Learn more about the book here, and check out the Goodreads Reviews here.
Game Boy Advance — a short film on childhood
Set in 2008, in Baguio City and Benguet, Philippines: Elias, aged 12, wants to rent a suit and attend the school dance. However, suit rentals are way above the means of a poor janitor’s son. So Elias scavenges and sells recyclable scraps to afford it.
As Elias confronts the realities of growing up in an indigent household, he is forced to make a responsible, “mature” decision that costs him a significant part of his childhood.
Game Boy Advance ©2023 John Pucay
“Sidung” and “Sidung — Acoustic (GBA Version)” are original songs by El Sarlipan. Executive producer: John Pucay. Both songs were produced for Game Boy Advance.
Learn more about the short film here.