iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 18/09/2026

I read this as “a.i. gore” and honestly that still makes sense

Screenshot of a NYT email. Email subject line “NY Today: Al Gore on climate change”

Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 09/09/2026

NOW TILL FRIDAY! B&N is running a huge sale on preorders, including the paperback of my latest gothic, THE VILLA, ONCE BELOVED. Preorders are a great way to make sure you get your copy as soon as it drops, and show support for my books (which tell publishers to make more of them)! 🔗⬇️

Graphic with green background and gold line drawings of leaves on the top left and bottom right edges; text reads "BARNES & NOBLE 25% OFF FOR PREMIUM & REWARDS MEMBER PREORDERS WITH CODE:
PREORDER25"
In the center, the cover of THE VILLA, ONCE BELOVED by Victor Manibo

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 29/06/2026

Next week @ Readercon! Come by and say hey!

Graphic table with text that reads:

“VICTOR MANIBO @ BOSTON
READERCON 2026

July 10 Fri, 3 PM
Salon C-D
Panel: Writing Cyberpunk Futures in
Our Cyberpunk Present
With Ann LeBlanc, RWW Greene, Scott Lynch, Marianna Martin

July 10 Fri, 5 PM
Salon A-B
Panel: Writing Big Ideas Without Being Preachy
With Andrea Martinez Corbin, Matt Kressel, Michael DeLuca,
P. Djèlí Clark

July 11 Sat, 12 NN
Salon E
Panel: Writing Horror in Horrifying Times With Sophia Babai, Michael Cisco, Julie C. Day, Corey Farrenkopf, Sunny Moraine

July 11 Sat, 6 PM
Create-Collaborate
Panel: SFF and Queer Cultural Memory
With David Gerrold, lan Muneshwar, Susan Stinson, Sonya Taaffee”

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 23/06/2026

Happy book birthday to Foundling Fathers by the inimitable @megelison.bsky.social! 🥳🥳🥳 NYC folks—join the celebration at The Strand this Friday, tix here: www.strandbooks.com/meg-elison-v...

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 16/06/2026

So excited to help welcome into the world the latest banger from @megelison.bsky.social! If you’re in NYC, join us at the iconic Strand on Fri 6/26. It’s gonna be a wild one. Tix available here: www.strandbooks.com/meg-elison-v...

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 21/04/2026

Snaps from BookCon—huge thanks to everyone who spent some time with me!

Victor and eight other authors seated around a dinner table

Victor and five fellow authors standing behind a panel table in front of a Bookcon backdrop

Victor and two fellow authors standing around a bar counter

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 13/04/2026

I’ll be at BookCon this weekend (both days) and on Sunday I have a signing and a queer horror panel with @haileypiperfights.bsky.social, @ninocipri.bsky.social, @ajwhiteauthor.bsky.social, Jade Song, and @laurarsamotin.bsky.social. Come by and say hi!

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 13/04/2026

Liminal space nightmare fuel game is good! Can’t wait to watch the movie

Screenshot from Exit 8 game, showing interior of underground train stop, stairs, and tellow sign that reads Exit 8

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 31/03/2026

Arguably the biggest sci fi author of our time:

"I dislike social commentary. Like... I really hate it. When I'm reading a book, I just want to be entertained, not preached at by the author. Plus, it ruins the wonder of the story if I know the author has a political or social axe to grind. I no longer speculate about all possible outcomes of the story because I know for a fact that the universe of that book will conspire to ensure that the author's political agenda is validated. I hate that," Weir said. "I put no politics or social commentary into my stories at all. Anyone who thinks they see something like that is reading it in on their own. I have no point to make, and I'm not trying to affect the reader's opinion on anything. My sole job is to entertain, and I stick to that."

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 13/03/2026

In DC for @awesomecon.bsky.social and if you are too, say hi! I have panels, signings, and a podcast recording, so I’m around all weekend—check the app for details

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 12/03/2026

Hear ye, hear ye! Bidding has begun for the Queer Liberation Network 2026 auction! There are a ton of cool items on offer, including copies of my latest novel. You can bid your heart out until March 14 at 11:59 PM. Proceeds go toward direct aid to queer folks in financial hardship. Link below:

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 19/02/2026

I don’t often write short stories, so seeing one of mine connect with readers is a special kind of thrill. Thank you @reactorsff.bsky.social and @bookjockeyalex.bsky.social! And in case you missed it, you can read “Slake” at @morningtransport.bsky.social: www.sundaymorningtransport.com/p/slake

Screenshots of reactormag.com article titled “Must Read Short Speculative Fiction: January 2026” by Alex Brown. Writeup reads

"Slake" by Victor Manibo
Want a deeply upsetting short story? Well, here you go. Manibo's piece is climate fiction by way of horror. Calix is trapped in their apartment as a hurricane bears down. It's been raining for weeks straight and the city has more or less shut down as the flooding gets worse. Calix is separated from Jericho by the rising water, and the combination of the isolation, intense anxiety, and constant rain pushes Calix to the brink. I was glad I had already finished my tea by the time I read this story. (Sunday Morning Transport—January 18, 2026)

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 18/01/2026

Pausing my regular vacation posts because it’s new story day! So pleased to be back at Sunday Morning Transport. Please enjoy my latest tale in all its queer, bleak, grotesque glory— www.sundaymorningtransport.com/p/slake

Screenshot from Sunday Morning Transport site. White text on black background reads:

THE SUNDAY MORNING
TRANSPORT AND VICTOR MANIBO
TODAY AT 21:16

In this month's third, free, story, Victor Manibo brings skin-crawling, unquenchable horror to your doorstep.

Slake
by Victor Manibo

The ocean has merged with the bay, with the city loop,

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 13/12/2025

Based on true events, THE VILLA, ONCE BELOVED is a contemporary gothic horror set in a cursed manor on a coconut plantation—it’s got ghosts and witches and creepy crawlies and demons, plus a sexy gravedigging scene—and it’s out now More info ⬇️

Reddish brown background showing detail of an ornate wood carving. Foreground is text that reads:

"The Villa, Once Beloved is a tale of eerie legacy, one branded with the mark of colonization and the haunting of family...Manibo steeps us deep in Filipino heritage, hierarchy, and history, crafting a tale that will keep your lights on at night."

Markus Redmond
Actor, screenwriter, and author of Blood Slaves

Below the text is an image of the hardcover for
THE VILLA, ONCE BELOVED by Victor Manibo

On the lower left and lower right hand corners are the logos of Erewhon Books and Kensington Publishing respectively

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 10/12/2025

Had such a lovely and lively fireside chat with @ryanlasala.bsky.social for THE VILLA, ONCE BELOVED. Thank you to The Twisted Spine for hosting us, and thank you to everyone who came and joined in on the fun! @erewhonbooks.bsky.social @kensingtonbooks.bsky.social

Ryan La Sala and Victor Manibo sitting on club chairs and talking to each other in front of a fireplace and bookshelves, a table between them with a copy of THE VILLA, ONCE BELOVED on it

Event attendees, seated in two rows in front of bookcases, some of them holding up copies of The Villa, Once Beloved

Victor Manibo and Ryan La Sala seated in front of tables on their signing lines

Hardcover copies of Ryan La Sala’s The Dead of Summer and Victor Manibo’s The Villa, Once Beloved on display stands atop a wooden counter

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 07/12/2025

Just finished Expedition 33. Did I cry? Maybe a little. Best game I’ve played all year

Screenshot from Clair Obscur Expedition 33 video game, showing the back of a girl standing in a garden, facing characters turning into rose petals

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 03/12/2025

I was working on a gothic this year, so

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 26/11/2025

Here are some snaps from Monday’s delightful launch event—my deepest thanks to @claymcleod.bsky.social for being such an insightful and generous interlocutor, and to Strand Bookstore for always supporting my work. Thank you too to everyone who came out and celebrated with us! … ⬇️

Victor signing the title page of THE VILLA, ONCE BELOVED

Clay Mcleod Chapman and Victor seated on brown leather stage on a stage, holding mics. Backdrop is wall shelves of old leatherbound books; between the authors is a Strand banner and a table with copies of The Villa, Once Beloved on it

Victor and Clay standing in front of a seated audience in Strand’s Rare Book Room, all smiling, Clay holding a copy of The Villa, Once Beloved

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 26/11/2025

After a long journey, we have finally arrived at THE VILLA, ONCE BELOVED. I’m so grateful for getting to tell this complex and horrifying Gothic tale, and especially proud as I think this is my best work to date. I hope you all fall in love with it as much as I have. … ⬇️

Victor Manibo wearing a black turtleneck with a sparkly beetle shaped brooch on his chest, seated behind a table holding upright a copy of THE VILLA, ONCE BELOVED. To his right are stacked copies of the same book, and to his left are his three novels, THE VILLA, THE SLEEPLESS, and ESCAPE VELOCITY. Background is a red step-and-repeat backdrop of Strand Bookstore logos.

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 19/11/2025

BROOKLYN! Join me and bestselling author @ryanlasala.bsky.social in celebrating the launch of THE VILLA, ONCE BELOVED on 12/9, 6 PM at The Twisted Spine! More info ⬇️

Graphic, black background, ornate gold border. Text up top in white reads “the Twisted Spine presents” then below, covers of THE VILLA, ONCE BELOVED and THE DEAD OF SUMMER, and below each, headshots of the respective authors, Victor Manibo and Ryan La Sala. Between the photos, text reads “Victor Manibo in conversation with Ryan La Sala”. Below the photos, text reads “Tues Dec 9 6 PM 306 Grand St Brooklyn, NY”

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 07/11/2025

Stopped by the stationers and got a new pen and inks for Fountain Pen Day

Green steel fountain pen (Faber Castell neo slim), cap off, black steel nib, on top of white box; next to rectangular bottle of brown ink (Pilot iroshizuku yama-guri), silver box behind it; next to pear shaped bottle of dark green ink (Dominant Industry forest), brown box behind it; all items on top of wooden desk

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 06/11/2025

Based on true events, THE VILLA, ONCE BELOVED is a contemporary gothic horror set in a cursed manor on a coconut plantation—it’s got ghosts and witches and creepy crawlies and demons, all coming for you in three weeks! Thank you, @cadwellturnbull.bsky.social, for the kind words! More info ⬇️

Reddish brown background showing detail of an ornate wood carving. Foreground is text that reads:

"A gothic family saga about the price of privilege...And beneath this very real, immaculately-rendered drama, a simmering dread: dark secrets threatening to emerge, along with something much worse. The Villa, Once Beloved is a magnificent terror."

- Cadwell Turnbull
Award-winning author of The Lesson and The Convergence Saga

Below the text is an image of the hardcover for
THE VILLA, ONCE BELOVED by Victor Manibo

On the lower left and lower right hand corners are the logos of Erewhon Books and Kensington Publishing respectively

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 01/11/2025

…it just doesn’t get more noir than this. #Halloween

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 30/10/2025

My tropical Gothic horror novel THE VILLA, ONCE BELOVED is almost here and now you can get a chance at a finished copy before pub date, thanks to this Goodreads giveaway! Entry details below

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 15/10/2025

Based on true events, THE VILLA, ONCE BELOVED is a contemporary gothic horror set in a cursed manor on a coconut plantation—it’s got ghosts and witches and creepy crawlies and demons, all coming for you this fall. Thank you, @megelison.bsky.social for the kind words! More info below

Reddish brown background showing detail of an ornate wood carving. Foreground is text that reads:

"Manibo is the kind of writer who knows what's forever: the gothic, the triumph of queers, the family fable. He puts all that up against what cannot stand: colonialism, small-mindedness, the lies that keep us from ourselves. The Villa, Once Beloved is a now and forever banger."
Meg Elison, author of The Pill

Below the text is an image of the hardcover for
THE VILLA, ONCE BELOVED by Victor Manibo

On the lower left and lower right hand corners are the logos of Erewhon Books and Kensington Publishing respectively

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 10/10/2025

THE VILLA, ONCE BELOVED advance copies are up for grabs in this goodreads giveaway! Be one of the first to get a hold of my upcoming gothic horror, perfect for spooky season. Details below

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 08/10/2025

I’ll be at Twisted Spine Books in a few weeks for a spooky season reading to celebrate SIGNOS: A Fiction Anthology of Filipino Supernatural from Radix! Stoked to be in this stellar lineup with my faves, and if you’re in or near BK, I hope you can join us. More info ⬇️

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 06/10/2025

October is #FAHM. There’s tons to say about being Filipino, America, and the countries’ shared history than could fit here, so I wrote about it for my newsletter dropping later this week Sign up now if you haven’t yet. And till 10/13, new subscribers get a chance to win THE VILLA, ONCE BELOVED 🔗⬇️

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 02/10/2025

LAUNCH EVENT! Join me at the Strand as we usher into the world my gothic horror child, with one of my horror idols @claymcleod.bsky.social (Jsyk, his delicious new book Acquired Taste pairs well with mine, so go pick it up). More book tour stops coming soon but if you’re in NY, grab your tix now ⬇️

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 30/09/2025

Date night at the opera. Kavalier & Clay is a top-tier all-time fave of mine, and seeing it reimagined in this new form got me all emotional

Foreground: my hand holding the playbill for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay at the Metropolitan Opera, depicting a masked blond comic book superhero bearing a key emblem in on his costume’s chest, holding chains in his hand. Background: Met Opera stage backdrop with the show title projected on black, orchestra pit

Foreground: two men standing against a railing and holding hands; background: Met Opera sputnik chandeliers, Grand Tier restaurant, entrance lobby

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 18/09/2025

Based on true events, THE VILLA, ONCE BELOVED is a contemporary gothic horror set in a cursed manor on a coconut plantation—and it’s coming this fall. Thank you, @aijiang.bsky.social, for the kind words! More info in 🧵 #TheVillaOnceBeloved #VictorManibo

Reddish brown background showing detail of an ornate wood carving. Foreground is text that reads:

"A gothic, haunting tale of estrangement, dissecting the complexities of identity and diaspora, intergenerational trauma, and the helplessness of vicious cycles in a slow burn narrative bound together by chains of secrets buried and unearthed."
— Ai Jiang, Stoker Award-winning author of A Palace Near the Wind

Below the text is an image of the hardcover for
THE VILLA, ONCE BELOVED by Victor Manibo

On the lower left and lower right hand corners are the logos of Erewhon Books and Kensington books respectively

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 15/09/2025

Always running late in the morning because sean leaves me chess puzzles overnight and i can’t leave without solving them

Chessboard and chess pieces on a credenza

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 03/09/2025

NOW TILL FRIDAY! @barnesandnoble.com is running a huge sale on preorders, including my upcoming gothic THE VILLA, ONCE BELOVED. Y’all know the drill. Stock up, and get my book while you’re at it. Preorders are a great way to tell the powers that be to publish more of my books

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 28/08/2025

Three years ago this week, I debuted with The Sleepless, and now here I am, four books in. Most of you might not know, but I wrote these in publication order, so not only is this is a snapshot of my range of interests, it also shows my coming-of-age as a writer. …

White textured background; foreground is a two by two array of Victor Manibo’s book covers: The Sleepless (mostly black and purple with yellow text showing title and author, graphic of three sets of eyes), Escape Velocity (an astronaut in front of an Earthrise holding a cocktail tray), Dead Note (mostly sunset colors, a woman facing the Manila cityscape), and The Villa, Once Beloved (a colonial Philippine manor on the top half and its negative image flipped in the bottom half)

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 25/08/2025

Thank you so much, @daviddemchuk.com! OUT 11/25/25, more info below

Reddish brown background showing detail of an ornate wood carving. Foreground is text that reads:

"A classic Gothic thriller set in the Philippines in the wake of the Marcos dictatorship, The Villa, Once Beloved holds you tightly in its clutches and refuses to let go. This chilling tale seamlessly blends supernatural shocks and suspense with powerful political and social drama, and builds to a hair-raising climax.
Sleepless nights await!"

- David Demchuk
Shirley Jackson Award-nominated author of The Bone Mother

Below the text is an image of the hardcover for
THE VILLA, ONCE BELOVED by Victor Manibo

On the lower left and lower right hand corners are the logos of Erewhon Books and Kensington books respectively

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 19/08/2025

Worldcon photo dump—thanks so much to everyone who spent some time with me and made it a blast

Selfie, bar interior, late aft: Victor Manibo, Micaiah Johnson, Elijah Kinch Spector, Cassandra Farrin

Selfie, bar interior: Victor Manibo, Arley Sorg, Ian Muneshwar

Selfie, bar interior, night: Victor Manibo, Yume Kitasei, Katie Wu, Corry Lee

Photo, exhibit hall interior: Jason Sanford, Nino Cipri, Victor Manibo

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 18/08/2025

Physical ARCs for THE VILLA, ONCE BELOVED dropped this past weekend at #Worldcon, and now 50 advance copies are up for grabs in this goodreads giveaway! Be one of the first to get a hold of my upcoming gothic horror, and enter via the link in thread:

Victor Manibo, Asian male with short cropped hair and a beard sitting behind a white table on which are copies of his books, The Sleepless, Escape Velocity, and The Villa, Once Beloved (ARC version) next to a place card bearing his name, and some brown bookmarks

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 12/08/2025

authors as brands as speculative worlds as brands as books as brands and on and on til the meteor takes us all

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 11/08/2025

Based on true events, THE VILLA, ONCE BELOVED is a contemporary gothic horror set in a cursed manor on a coconut plantation—and it’s coming this fall. Thank you, @premeemohamed.com, for the kind words!

Reddish brown background showing detail of an ornate wood carving. Foreground is text that reads:

For all its beauty, no saints, no heroes, no angels inhabit this villa—only ghosts and secrets.
Manibo has crafted a pitch-perfect modern gothic, in which the personal is political and there is no such thing as the past: only facets of a dangerous and suffocating present.

- Premee Mohamed
Nebula, World Fantasy, and Aurora Award-winning author

Below the text is an image of the hardcover for
THE VILLA, ONCE BELOVED by Victor Manibo

On the lower left and lower right hand corners are the logos of Erewhon Books and Kensington books respectively

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 07/08/2025

Six years since the best comics retcon blew my mind

Five comics panels from House of X #2 (2019), words by Jonathan Hickman, art by Pepe Larraz. Alternating close ups of Charles Xavier and Moira X / Mactaggert, with dialogue bubbles that read:

C: I'm sorry.
Do we know one another?

M: Oh yes.
We go back quite a ways.

C: Who are you?

M: Why don't you read my mind, Charles?
Read my mind and *see.*

C: (looking shocked) Ah…

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 04/08/2025

Worldcon is upon us once again! So excited to be part of @seattlein2025.org, and I hope to see you all at these events (if not the bar)

Blue and yellow graphic with text in a table format:

VICTOR MANIBO @
SEATTLE
WORLDCON 2025

Aug 14 Thu
12 NN
Panel: Non-American Futures
With Claire McCague, Somto hezue, Yasser Bahjatt
Room
347-348

Aug 14 Thu 6 PM
Panel: Writing without Heroes and Villains
With James Patrick Kelly, Erik Scott de Bie, Marie Brennan, PH Low
Room
443-444

Aug 15 Fri 1:30 PM
Autographing
Garden
Lounge

Aug 16
Sat
12 NN
Panel: Visibility in an Oppositional World With Shay Kauwe, Andrea Hairston, Claire E. Jones,
Sophia Babai
Room 322

Aug 16
Sat 3 PM
Panel: Publishing in Different Genres With Coral Alejandra Moore, Ash Huang, Gail Carriger, Sandra Tayler, Thien Van T Hoang
Room
433-434

Aug 16
Sat 6 PM
Panel: The Southeast Asian SFF Wave
With Thien Van T Hoang and Salinee Goldenberg
Room
445-446

Aug 17
Sun
10:30 AM
Table Talk
Room 430

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 03/08/2025

Caught Sargent’s men on the last day of the exhibition @metmuseum.org

Young Man in Reverie, oil on canvas painting of a white man in a robe falling off the side, exposing his left breast, hand on his waist, leaning against a wall, with some blue and white vases next to him

Man Wearing Laurels, oil on canvas painting of a shirtless, mustachioed man with curly dark hair, wearing a laurel crown, against a dark background

Dr Pozzi at Home, oil on canvas. Full length portait of a white man in a red dressing robe against a red background

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 30/07/2025

Perfect cap to this day: a super creepy, gothic mystery immersive theater piece narrated by helena bonham carter (and made by the same folks behind sleep no more)

Black and white wall illustration of a full moon casting a wide beam of light over a two-storey french colonial type house, with the text “Follow the light” above the whole thing

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Victor Manibo @victormanibo.com · 26/07/2025

Over $12k raised so far by Queer Lib Network’s lit auction—and it aint over yet! For the next few days, head over to the link below to bid on hundreds of rad books, including a couple of mine. Proceeds go to direct aid for queer folks in dire financial straits. www.32auctions.com/LitforQueerL...

Mostly light pink and yellow graphic with photo of the covers for The Sleepless and Escape Velocity by Victor Manibo. Text reads:

LIT FOR QUEER LIBERATION

QLN'S 2025 BOOKISH AUCTION

AUCTION PROCEEDS SUPPORT QUEER AND TRANS FOLX FACING FINANCIAL HARDSHIP.

SUPPORTED BY:
Bookshop.org®

Signed Paperback Book Bundle

Signed, personalized paperback copy of The Sleepless
+
Signed, personalized paperback copy of Escape Velocity

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