The Great Philippine Jungle Energy Cafe

Angelo R. Lacuesta is a novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, and filmmaker. He has written more than ten books and has won numerous national awards for his writing, including the Madrigal-Gonzalez Best First Book Award, the NVM Gonzalez Award, several Palanca Memorial Awards, Philippines Graphic Awards, and National Book Awards, among others. He has represented the Philippines at several international festivals and conferences concerning literature, cinema, and culture.

His most recent publication is the novel IRÔ, published by Milflores Publishing in 2025, with a forthcoming collection of new short fiction, entitled Affidavit, scheduled for the same year. IRÔ was selected as one of ten novels to be presented for possible film adaptation at the “Books at Berlinale” section of the 2025 Berlinale Film Festival.

In 2024 he wrote and produced the film An Errand, based on a short story he wrote, for the Cinemalaya Film Festival, one of Asia’s most important festivals for independent cinema. The film was also selected as part of the Bright Futures section of the 2025 International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR). In 2025, Song of the Fireflies, a film he also wrote and produced, had its international premiere at the Manila International Film Festival in Los Angeles, U.S.A., where it earned audience awards for Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Supporting Actor.

He is co-managing director of Good Intentions Books, an independent publishing house based in Manila. He is editor-at-large at the Esquire magazine Philippines and is the current president of the Philippine Centre of PEN (Poets, Essayists, Novelists) International.