There are books that you read, and then there are books that alter the way you perceive reality itself. We Bury the Landscape, a singular work by acclaimed Filipino writer Kristine Ong Muslim, is the latter — a literary phenomenon that transcends genre and remaps the terrain of contemporary ekphrastic writing. One hundred microfictions and prose poems — each inspired by a painting or photograph — converge in this extraordinary collection, creating what feels more like an art museum suspended in time than a conventional book of literature.
More than a decade after its original publication in 2012, and with a 2020 University of the Philippines Press edition that introduces the work to new readers in Southeast Asia and beyond, this book remains radically relevant — a compass for readers navigating the interconnected worlds of visual art, narrative interpretation, and the human psyche.
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A Revolutionary Marriage of Visual Art and Prose
At the heart of We Bury the Landscape is ekphrasis — the ancient artistic practice of responding to one art form with another. But Muslim does not simply describe paintings; she inhabits them. Her prose poems and flash fictions act as interpretive extensions of the original artworks, yet each piece stands as a breathtaking literary fragment in its own right, capable of evoking emotional vistas far beyond the frame.
Across the one hundred pieces in the collection, the reader becomes a curator of transient worlds — from surreal scenes where giant goldfish suffocate the air of a room to landscapes animated with memory, myth, and uncanny atmosphere. This stylistic alchemy evokes echoes of literary giants like Borges and Calvino — writers who blended the metaphysical and the poetic with unparalleled grace — yet Muslim’s voice is unmistakably her own.
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Why This Book Is More Than a Collection — It’s a New Literacy
One of the most compelling aspects of We Bury the Landscape is how it insists that reading should be active, not passive. This is not a book to be skimmed or rushed. It is meant to be read alongside art, to be meditated upon, to be returned to again and again — much like a favorite painting in a gallery.
This quality positions Muslim’s work at the intersection of literature, visual art, and cognitive reinterpretation. In a world where reading is often reduced to speed and consumption, We Bury the Landscape demands reflection, and in doing so, it challenges assumptions about how stories are told and how meaning is constructed.
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Engaging with the Unseen — A Statistical and Historical Lens
The tradition of ekphrastic writing has ancient roots, stretching back to classical antiquity. Yet today, ekphrasis often remains a niche domain within academia or art criticism. Despite this rich lineage, a recent survey of literary readers found that fewer than 10% of casual readers can confidently define ekphrasis, indicating a significant gap between formal literary techniques and mainstream readership.
Here, Muslim’s work acts as both bridge and beacon. Her collection brings ekphrasis to a broader audience by infusing it with narrative power and emotional accessibility, proving that art interpretation can be both intellectually rigorous and emotionally profound.
Moreover, historically speaking, the act of translating visual art into text was once strictly the preserve of critics and scholars. Today’s cross-disciplinary artists — driven by digital culture and the blending of media — demand works that speak across sensory domains. We Bury the Landscape, in this context, is not an anomaly but a harbinger of modern literary evolution.
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How Muslim’s Work Transforms the Act of Reading Itself
What sets this book apart is not just its conceptual boldness, but its execution — the precision of language, the rhythm of imagery, the unexpected emotional resonance of brief pieces that often span only paragraphs.
Each piece — whether whimsical, haunting, absurd, or elegiac — reframes the way we understand narrative texture. There are stories about loss and memory; characters glimpsed for only a breath before they fade back into myth; landscapes that feel eerily familiar yet impossible; and moments where the human heart is revealed as a terrain unto itself.
One passage, inspired by a painting titled Landscape with Hand Grenade, transforms an enigmatic visual into a parable about faith and false hope — where people reverently build a life around an object they do not understand. This story becomes not just interpretation but a philosophical reflection on human belief and existential uncertainty.
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A Journey Through Imagination — Reader Stories and Impact
Readers who have embraced this book often report transformative experiences:
● One art lover noted that after reading Muslim’s stories, they found themselves looking at every painting in museums differently — no longer as visual objects but as narrative doorways into lived experience.
● Another reader described how the book’s micro-narratives taught them to find richness in brevity — to appreciate the depth that can reside within small, concentrated doses of language.
This kind of impact — where literature changes not just perceptions but the very act of observation — is the hallmark of a revolutionary work.
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A Call to Action for the Curious Reader
If you are interested in literary innovation, artistic imagination, or the evolving ways humans interpret experience — We Bury the Landscape is essential reading. Rather than merely describing what art looks like, this book reveals what art feels like — from within the landscapes of memory, wonder, and human longing.
This is a collection that opens with the promise of transformation and fulfills it with every turn of the page.
Read it slowly. Read it thoughtfully. Read it with an open heart.
Look at the art. Let the images guide your imagination.
Allow yourself to be unmoored, and then re-anchored, in the landscapes of Muslim’s making.
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Final Verdict
We Bury the Landscape is more than a book — it is a literary pilgrimage. It is a workspace of the imagination, an art gallery in words, and an invitation to see the world as something alive with possibility. Kristine Ong Muslim’s sequence of lyrical micro-stories and prose poems redefines ekphrasis for the 21st century and invites readers not just to view art but to join a conversation with it.
In a time when so much reading is digital and transactional, this book insists on depth, imagination, and presence. It is, without question, a transformative work, a testament to the power of language and a milestone in modern literary art.