Stories that move hearts.
Strategies that shape conversations.
I’m Renato Gandia — a Filipino‑Canadian writer and communications strategist. Through my creative work, I explore memory, identity, and love. Through my communications practice, I help organizations find clarity, build trust, and tell their stories with impact.
Writing
Novels, memoir and short fiction exploring complicated relationships, faith, belonging and love.
Anatomy of Compersion
A 92,000‑word literary novel about a woman, her bisexual husband, and his lover—asking whether love can stretch wide enough to include someone else’s happiness.
Anthologies & Beyond
Published short fiction & essays in Magdaragat, Yay Queer All II, Beyond the Concert Hall, and more.
Gandia Media
Stories that Connect. Strategies that Deliver.
I help organizations craft clear, purposeful stories that connect with people and drive action. With nearly two decades of experience in journalism, government communications, and strategic storytelling, I know how to turn complexity into clarity. Let’s tell your story in a way that resonates.
From the blog
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What it means (and doesn’t mean) to be a full-time writer
I’ve been a full-time writer for a few months now, and I still hesitate to say it out loud. Not because it isn’t true, but because the phrase comes loaded with assumptions I don’t recognize as mine: freedom, abundance, clarity, discipline perfected at last. It suggests a clean break, a decisive crossing from one life…
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When love is not neutral
Why The Leaves Still Fallow matters right now Some books arrive at exactly the moment they’re needed—not because they predict the world, but because they refuse to look away from it. The Leaves Still Fallow is an anthology of queer love stories, poems, and essays. On the surface, that sounds gentle, even familiar. But this…
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The work of writing
On reward, exhaustion, and choosing to stay I’ve been a full-time writer for about three months now. By “full-time,” I mean I no longer have a full-time job—not because I chose some romantic leap of faith, but because I was laid off. The organization I worked for decided my contribution was no longer needed, and…
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Tap water not included: notes from a parched tourist
This isn’t my first trip to Europe. I’ve learned many things over the years: trains run on time, pastries are a legitimate breakfast, and museums will take your breath away. And I’ve also long known this unshakable truth: Europe does not like giving adults tap water.Not automatically. Not cheerfully. Not without a small emotional journey.…
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Among Bruges’s bells and quiet corners
Bruges welcomed us with cobblestones, winter light, and a moment that tested both my patience and my ability to behave. We had just arrived and wanted something simple: a warm place to sit and a cappuccino while waiting for our hotel room to be ready. We stepped into a café, expecting the usual café choreography—sit…
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Among the padlocks and other confusions
I noticed the padlocks even before we stepped foot in Cologne. As our train rolled across the Hohenzollern Bridge, they flashed past the window in a blur of colour—pink, brass, rust, red, an entire spectrum of declarations fused to metal. I didn’t know what to make of them then. Just an impression, a texture of…
About
Calgary‑based writer and communications professional. Former journalist, government spokesperson, and energy‑sector strategist. I write about memory, migration, queerness, and the complexity of love—and I help leaders make clearer, kinder decisions in public.
Published in Magdaragat and Beyond the Concert Hall. Currently finishing Anatomy of Compersion and revising my memoir Unpriesting.
Renato Gandia 