Filmmaker and historian Nick Deocampo is stepping into deeply personal literary territory with the release of Shards of Desire, a four-volume poetry collection delving into queer identity, launched on 23 March through Centralbooks.
Structured as a quartet of poems — Ariel and the Grand Design of the Universe, The Night at Rue Du Dragon, Phaedrus Poems and The Icarus Complex — Shards of Desire pieces together emotions and experiences that reflect life outside of conventional gender archetypes. Notably, the collection is packaged as miniature prayer books that interweave poems with photographs, offering an intimate look at queer desire.
While Deocampo is widely known as a pioneering documentary filmmaker and an award-winning author of historical texts, this debut reveals a creative passion nurtured since his early days.
Taken together, the four volumes examine how Philippine culture shapes perceptions of gender and sexuality. They also highlight how language can transform from harmful societal labels into a powerful tool of resistance.
A former Fulbright scholar with a master’s degree from New York University, Deocampo has spent decades championing alternative cinema and uncovering overlooked stories. Currently an associate professor at the University of the Philippines (UP) Film Institute, his move from film scholarship into poetry marks a powerful new chapter in his lifelong commitment to elevating marginalized voices.
Thelma E. Arambulo, former chair of the UP’s Department of English and Comparative Literature, notes, “Poetry demands the courage, humility, and honesty to completely expose to others what is most hidden in the heart and soul.”
Author and former University of Santo Tomas (UST) literature chair John Jack G. Wigley expands on this shift to poetic expression, observing that while Deocampo’s films have served as a public manifestation of his identity, his poetry remains the “most personal expression of his intense desires.”
The collection traces a highly emotional journey, moving from breaking personal boundaries to finding shared liberation. UST literature scholar Luciana L. Urquiola describes the work as “revelatory,” pointing out that beneath the poetry’s “explicit candor lies something familiar: the fragile human search for love, recognition and belonging.”
