Emotionally Ambitious Novella by Cymbeline Villamin

Her forthcoming novella with 8Letters, The Witch of Pontevedra, still under wraps but already stirring curiosity, marks one of Cymbeline Villamin's emotionally ambitious works. Scheduled for release in 2026, the beta readers describe the book as "lyrical," "fierce," and "beautifully unsettling."

The pages unfold a narrative where romance is intertwined with spiritual metamorphosis. Characters encounter each other in moments of vulnerability. There is longing. There is sensuaity. There is a mythic pulse that insinuates intimacy altering reality, reshaping time, and revising the architecture of self.

 

Rooted in Filipino Sensibility

Though her fiction travels across borders-- Tokyo alleys, Spanish mythscapes, imagined futures-- Cymbeline Villamin's voice remains distinctly Filipino.

It is in the emotional generosity of her characters, in their quiet acts of courage, in the intersections of spirituality and longing that color their choices.

Her novella reflects this cultural grounding. It draws from the Filipino relationship with destiny, memory, and the unseen; the way myths exist side-by-side with everyday life, shaping the emotional vocabulary of the people.

Discover Stories that Linger Long After the Last Page

AUTHOR MEET & BOOK SIGNING EVENT

November 17, 2025 • 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM

College Learning Commons

Kolehiyo ng Lungsod ng Dasmariñas

Featuring two acclaimed fiction by Cymbeline R Villamin

Ang Maghuhurno

Lovers in Kyoto

A Celebration of Storytelling, Heritage, and the Human Heart

Step into a world where Filipino history, memory, and longing come alive on the page. This event brings together two signature works by fictionist Cymbeline Villamin, whose literary voice blends sensuality, introspection, cultural rootedness, and bold emotional landscapes.

Readers-- students, teachers, and librarians are invited to discover the artistry, social insight, and imaginative depth behind Ang Maghuhurno and Lovers in Kyoto, two narratives that speak to different geographies, but share a common pulse: the complexity of human love.

Ang Maghuhurno

A Tagalog Novel of Legacy, Love, and the Slow Burning Rise of Revolution

Set across centuries of Philippine history, Ang Maghuhurno traces the lineage of a remarkable family of bakers whose craft becomes intertwined with rebellion, betrayal, and nation-building. At its heart is Eliza, a secret revolutionary once aligned with Bonifacio before moving to Aguinaldo’s faction— her quiet artistry masking a life charged with danger, passion, and ideological fire.

Through the generations, the heat of the oven mirrors the heat of political and personal transformation. The novel blends:

• Historical fiction grounded in Philippine revolutionary movements

• Family saga filled with buried secrets, generational memory, and inherited desires

• Sensual lyricism that explores how bodies, labor, and love shape destiny

• Cultural reflection on the artisanship of bread as both sustenance and metaphor

A rich text for courses in Philippine Literature, History, Cultural Studies, Creative Writing, and Sociology, Ang Maghuhurno invites academic dialogue on nationhood, identity, and the evolution of Filipino womanhood.

Lovers in Kyoto

An English Novella of Intimacy, Solitude, and Cross-Cultural Desire

Set in the quiet beauty of Japan’s cultural heart, Lovers in Kyoto immerses readers in a lyrical tale of two souls drawn together by longing, impermanence, and unspoken need.

Against the backdrop of temples, autumn leaves, narrow lanes, and shifting light, the novella explores:

• The psychology of solitude and emotional vulnerability

• Cross-cultural romantic tension

• The body as a site of memory and revelation

• Desire that is tender, restrained, and poetic

Ideal for World Literature, Asian Studies, Comparative Literature, and Creative Writing classes, the novella offers a refined meditation on modern relationships, displacement, and the fragile art of loving across cultures.

EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

✅ Author Talk – Insights on writing, research, and crafting emotional truth
✅ Q&A Session – For students, educators, and creative writers
✅ Book Signing – Copies available at the venue
✅ Meet & Greet – Conversations with the author

Ang Maghuhurno ebook edition

                                                          Ang Maghuhurno ebook edition

The Bread, the Baker, and the Lamp

In the hush of a 19th century kitchen, the primal Maghuhurno began stirring the mixture of flour and milk, the tender chemistry of beginnings. Through the capiz window, morning spilled like prayer. She was young, her hair bound low at the nape, her heart unbound. On the cupboard, the jars whispered gatas, asukal — milk and sugar — the alchemy of nurture, of sweetness distilled from toil.

By afternoon, the air ripened with the scent of warm loaves swelling in the oven, the small miracle of yeast and patience. She lifted the tray of bread, the steam of a hymn to the invisible: the women before her, the revolutions within her, the quiet endurance of love that fed more than flesh. Her smile was modest, but her creation glowed with communion of hunger and hope.

When night descended, she stood before the lampara, the world hushed except for the soft sigh of oil and flame. Her face, half-lit, carried the day’s memory: the dough that rose, the bread that broke, the silence that stayed. On the table, the loaves gleamed like moons, offerings to the God of labor, longing, and loss.

And so she became her own light--
Ang Maghuhurno, the baker of sustenance, the keeper of warmth in a world that grew cold.

The Shibuya Crossing

A retelling of the novella, Lovers in Kyoto by the same author, about not just crossing a line but a boundary against the forbidden.

The Personal and The Political

Ang Maghuhurno (The Baker) by Cymbeline Villamin is a novel that intertwines the sensual and the spiritual, the personal and the political. It tells the story of Liz, a baker whose affair becomes an allegory of the Filipino conscience wounded by colonial religion, tested by corruption, yet still seeking redemption.

The act of bread making becomes a metaphor for creation and re-creation, guilt and grace. As the dough ferments and burns, so does the human soul shaped by time, suffering, and love.

Blending psychological realism, religious symbolism, and postcolonial critique, the novel reflects on how the body becomes a site of both sin and salvation. It echoes the moral introspection of Graham Greene, the mysticism of Nick Joaquin, and the sensual humanism of D. H. Lawrence, while remaining deeply Filipino in its imagery and voice.

Stay tuned for announcement of Cymbeline's book signing event next month at a college book fair in Dasmarinas, Cavite.

Free copies of Pentirsi

Cymbeline Villamin will be giving free PDF copies of her anthology, PENTIRSI: Stories of Repentance, in November 2025, to the first 28 readers who email their interest to <cymbeline52@gmail.com>.

Offering to readers ten stories of more than 200 pages with 5"X7" trim size, written in a span of three decades. Convenient to read on laptop or mobile phone anywhere, anytime.

Yes, free to keep and share forever, without "strings attached." An early Christmas gift. 🎁

The Baker

Read A Review of the Filipino version

Lovers Between Worlds

In the context of Cymbeline Villamin's diptych novel, Lovers Between Worlds, "portals of transcendence" refers to the transformative power of emotions. These emotions serve as catalysts for the characters to move beyond their current state, thus achieving a higher self awareness and spiritual growth.

Transcendence implies a shift in perspective, allowing individuals to see themselves and the world around them in a new light.

The concept is often explored in speculative romance and fantasy where experiences can be amplified, leading to profound changes in the characters.