Mookie Katigbak-Lacuesta hails from Manila and holds an MFA from the New School University in NYC. Her first book of poetry, The Proxy Eros, was published in 2008 by Anvil Publishing Inc., the foremost publishing house in the Philippines. Her work has appeared in The New York Quarterly as well as in a number of Philippine glossies for which she’s written about a range of topics—from music, art, and romantic disasters to home decorating and cover girls. She has also received Palanca and Philippines Free Press awards, the top literary honors in the Philippines. What’s defunct in her life? “The next book by Malcolm Gladwell. The next book by Elizabeth Gilbert. The name of a Prince album. The name of a Maxwell-tries-to-be-Prince album. The Grammy Justin Timberlake wins for his “deconstructing Prince” album. Justice for Roman Polanski. Mel Gibson’s sanity. The reader’s patience after reading this list.”