Angelo Rodriguez Lacuesta

Amado Angelo "Sarge" Rodriguez Lacuesta (born April 11, 1970) is a Filipino writer known for his short stories, novels, and screenplays. He has won National Book Awards, the NVM Gonzalez Award, numerous Palanca Memorial Awards and Philippine Graphic Awards, and the inaugural Madrigal Gonzalez Best First Book Award.

He is currently the president of PEN (Poets, Essayists, Novelists) Philippines and serves as editor-at-large for Esquire Magazine (Philippines).

Lacuesta has represented the Philippines in international literary fellowships, residencies, and conferences. Alongside his literary career, he leads Good Intentions Books, an independent publishing company.

Early life and education

Lacuesta was born in 1970 in Cebu City, Philippines. He is the son of the late banker and screenwriter Amado Lacuesta, known for his work on Working Girls, and essayist Lolita Rodriguez-Lacuesta.

He attended the basic education unit of the Ateneo de Manila University for his primary and secondary education before earning a degree in Biology from the University of the Philippines Diliman. Although initially accepted into the Integrated Liberal Arts and Medicine (INTARMED) Program at UP, a fast-track path to medical school, he chose to pursue his undergraduate degree first. Eventually, he decided to leave medical school to focus on writing.

In 2024, Lacuesta wrote and produced An Errand, which premiered at the 2024 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival. It was his second screenplay, following Song of the Fireflies, which he also produced. Song of the Fireflies was filmed earlier and is set to have its international premiere at the Manila International Film Festival in Los Angeles, California, in 2025.

His upcoming novel, IRÔ (Milflores, 2025), was selected as one of 10 novels to be presented for possible film adaptation at the “Books at Berlinale” section of the 2025 Berlinale Film Festival.

Selected recent work

Coral Cove and Other Stories Published in 2017 by the University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, Coral Cove and Other Stories is a collection of short stories that explores complex themes of identity, time, and memory.

The eleven stories are set against the backdrop of the Philippines' rich history. Its title story is a speculative fiction piece that explores love, technology, and a dystopian future. Other stories in the collection examine the blurring lines between fact and fiction, original and imitation, and the interplay of past, present, and future.

Reviewer Natalia Delazari noted that Lacuesta's work is “worth every effort the reader makes.”

A Waiting Room Companion A Waiting Room Companion is a 2017 non-fiction book published by Ateneo de Manila University Press. The collection brings together essays, explorations, and profiles that span Lacuesta's career, including his tenure as editor-at-large at Esquire Philippines. The book was a finalist for the prestigious Philippine National Book Award.

Lacuesta's writing has been praised for its humor, depth, and clarity. A reviewer in Philippines Graphic compared his prose to that of Michael Chabon and Joseph Epstein, highlighting his skill in discussing diverse subjects such as family, travel, sex, and aging. The reviewer writes:Here, the author speaks as the swordsman on the hill, unguarded by the rules of fiction and the shackles of rhyme. Lacuesta has taken all that into his hands and soared with it, and added tiers of insight into what could otherwise had just been a petty, self-serving memoir.

Stay: 21 Stories Stay: 21 Stories is a 2018 comics anthology that presents a collection of 21 original stories, exploring themes of “horror, violence, romance and sex.” Lacuesta noted that the process of working with artists added new dimensions to his stories. while another, “Triple Phantasy,” was a runner-up in the same contest. Stay was also featured in the official Philippine catalog for the several consecutive years at the Frankfurt Buchmesse.

JOY: A Novel JOY: A Novel is Lacuesta's debut novel, published by Penguin Random House Southeast Asia in 2022. Spanning multiple decades, the novel reflects the fragmented yet interconnected lives of contemporary Filipinos. In discussing the novel, Lacuesta emphasized the difference between writing short stories and novels. He told Lifestyle Inquirer: As the errand progresses, Moroy reflects on memories and fantasies, blending reality with introspection.

The film received critical acclaim for its slow-burn narrative and meticulous visual composition, with one reviewer even drawing comparisons to European arthouse cinema. ClickTheCity noted the film's existential undertones, likening it to works such as Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin (2013 film) and Shane Carruth's Upstream Color (2013 film). Meanwhile, PhilStar Life emphasized the psychological complexity of An Errand and its incisive commentary on class divides, drawing parallels to Bong Joon-ho's Parasite (2019 film).

An Errand premiered on August 5, 2024, as part of the Full Length Main Competition category at the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival.

Personal life Lacuesta is married to the poet Mookie Katigbak-Lacuesta.

Selected bibliography

the Artist as FilipinoMiguel P. De Leon PublishingNon-Fiction 2017A Waiting Room CompanionAteneo de Manila

University PressEssays 2017Coral

Cove and Other StoriesUST Publishing

Filmography

Selected Awards