February 21, 2006
UP ICW CHOOSES 12 WRITING FELLOWS
LIKHAAN: The UP Institute of Creative Writing (ICW) has selected 12 Fellows to the 45th UP National Writers Workshop to be held at Pines View Hotel, Baguio City from 1-8 April 2006.
The Fellows are: Fiction in English – Bernice C. Roldan (UP Diliman); Fiction in Filipino – Jimmuel C. Naval (UP Diliman), Zosimo E. Quibilan, Jr. (ADMU); Poetry in English – Raymond John A. de Borja (UP Diliman), Joel M. Toledo (UP Diliman), and Lourd Ernest H. de Veyra (UST/UP Diliman); Poetry in Filipino – Ariel Dim. Borlongan (FEATI University) and Paolo M. Manalo (UP Diliman); Drama – Allan B. Lopez (UP Diliman), Lisa Magtoto (UP Diliman); and Creative Nonfiction in English – Mario I. Miclat (UP Diliman) and Virginia M. Villanueva (UP Diliman).
The Workshop, one of the major annual projects and the most important outreach program of the ICW, will have a new format this year to enable UP to continue fulfilling its leadership role in Creative Writing. Former Fellows were allowed to apply in this year’s Workshop. Applicants were asked to submit original unpublished manuscripts (short story, poem, drama, and creative nonfiction) for pre-workshop screening and for discussion during the Workshop. In addition, a two-page description of a work-in-progress in any of the above genres was also required. Grantees are also required to make a presentation of their respective works-in-progress during the workshop.
The teaching staff is composed of ICW Director Vim D. Nadera, Dr. Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo (Workshop Director), University Professor Emeritus Gémino H. Abad, National Artist and Dean Virgilio S. Almario, Prof. Emeritus Amelia Lapeña Bonifacio, Dr. Jose Y. Dalisay, Jr., Dr. J. Neil C. Garcia, Prof. Emeritus Bienvenido Lumbera, Mr. Charlson L. Ong, Prof. Jun Cruz Reyes, Dr. Lilia Quindoza Santiago, UP Mindanao Chancellor Ricardo M. de Ungria and Prof. Rene O. Villanueva.
The fellows are advised to call the UP ICW at 922-1830 or call/SMS Mr. Tony Serrano at (0918)512-2314 to confirm attendance and other related matters.
February 20, 2006
All-Visayas Workshop at UPV Tacloban College
by Merlie M. Alunan
The dominance of English and Filipino has already been systematized in academe and in government. All the languages of the country have already been reduced to minority status—it remains for media to complete the rout.
One might well ask, however, But aren’t all our other languages alive and well despite the dominance of English and Tagalog (or Filipino, if one is so minded to call it). Cebuanos continue to speak Cebuano, the Warays have not stopped using Waray, and occasionally Ilocano and Hiligaynon make it to some national ad on TV? You go to the places where these languages are spoken, to the market places, especially, and you will find these languages being used in the thick of the commerce. Doesn’t this prove that our languages are alive. Oh yes, but barely.
All that’s left of most of our languages are in these lively market scenes. Most of the songs and stories told in these languages are forgotten, or vaguely remembered or spoken about glibly or in tones of reverence though no one knows much about them anymore. Or if they are remembered at all, not much thought is being given to them. They have lost their value in the face of more immediate and popular attractions.
These are among the considerations that might have gone into a newly articulated objective of UP in the Visayas: To make UPV a center of excellence in the area of culture and the languages. Among the programs that have been instituted by UPV earlier to realize this objective is the UPV Creative Writing Workshop which operates in the three campuses of the constituent university.
The workshops are nested in the three campuses of UPV: in UPV itself under the helm of fiction writer, Dr. Leoncio Deriada whose work in reviving writing in Kinaray-a is well-recognized. The CWW is UP College Cebu is anchored by artist, art critic and poet, Raymund Fernandez. In UP Tacloban College, it is held down by poet and teacher of Literature, Merlie M. Alunan.
The largest project of UPV CWW this year is the 3rd Panagsugat All-Visayas Creative Writing Workshop which is being hosted by UP Tacloban College. The workshop is open to those who write in the Visayan languages, Cebuano, Hilgaynon, Kinaray-a, Akeanon and Waray. In recognition of the fact that young writers may actually be writing in English or Filipino, the workshop is also open to these languages.
To qualify for the Workshop, prospective fellows are enjoined to send any of the following requirements: five poems, two short stories, a chapter from a novel, a one-act play, or an act from a longer play, two non-fiction, or combinations thereof. The entries must be sent in three copies accompanied by a diskette in 12 pts New Times Roman and an application letter. Send to UPTC VisWrite All Visayas Creative Writing Workshop, UP Tacloban College, Tacloban City 6200. Deadline for submission is February 25, 2006.
February 20, 2006
13th Iligan National Writers Workshop (INWW) Now Accepting Applicants
The National Commission for Culture and Arts (NCCA) and the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology’s Office of the Vice Chancellor for Reseach and Extension (OVCRE) are accepting applications from writers to the 13th Iligan National Writers Workshop (INWW) to be held on May 22-24, 2006 in Iligan City.
Panelists this year are Rosario Cruz Lucero, Erlinda Kintanar Alburo, Jaime An Lim, Leoncio P. Deriada, Merlie M. Alunan, German V. Gervacio, Steven Patrick C. Fernandez and this year’s keynote speaker, the poet Michael U. Obenieta, 3rd INWW Fellow (1996)
Fifteen (15) slots, five each from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao are available for writing fellowships to the INWW.
Applicants are required to submit five poems, or, one short story, or, a one-act play in Filipino, English or in Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Kinaray-a, Waray (with translations) along with the applicant’s biodata, two 2X2 photos and a certification that his/her work is original. For short stories or plays, please submit a hard copy and a 3.5 diskette with the manuscripts encoded in MS Word 7.0. Unpublished works are preferred.
Writing fellows will be given free board and lodging, honoraria and a travel allowance. Applications must be postmarked on or before March 30,2006. No applications or manuscripts will be accepted if sent by fax or e-mail. Applicants are also advised to keep copies of their manuscripts since these will not be returned.
Send all applications to the 13th INWW Director, Christine Godinez-Ortega c/o OVCRE, MSU-IIT, Iligan City.
For more information call Pat Cruz tels. (063) 3516131; or e-mail: ovcre-mepc@sulat.msuiit.edu.ph
February 12, 2006
panitikan.com.ph Launched
Portal to Philippine Literature
"Panitikan.com.ph aims to pave the way in cyberspace for all art forms." So quips Vim Nadera, initiator of what may very well be the most ambitious online literary project in the Philippines .
Recently launched at the Quirino Grandstand last 12 February, panitikan.com.ph boasts of an extensive database of authors profiles and works. As part of the National Commission for Culture & the Arts National Arts Month launching pad for programs, the website features works by individual authors ranging from poetry, fiction, drama to children's literature and creative nonfiction. Just as important, the works are submitted by the authors themselves.
The site design was executed by the same artist who created the website for the innovative indie film Pinoy/Blonde . The panitikan.com.ph staff is composed of literature lovers and also backed up by the considerable resources of the UP Institute of Creative Writing. Nadera himself, the ICW Director, and Palanca Hall of Fame writer Jose "Butch" Dalisay are the advisers.
Other features of the site are the Writers Market page, a monthly calendar of literary events, a section devoted entirely to literature from the regions and a whole lot more. Panitikan.com.ph is aiming to be the definitive portal to Philippine literature as a whole, a one-stop site that literature lovers, students and writers themselves can keep coming back to over and over again, just like the proverbial storybook.
February 11, 2006
BE ONE OF THE 15 FELLOWS IN THE IYAS CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP WITH MULTI-AWARDED WRITERS! The Iyas Creative Writing Workshop is now accepting fellowship applicants for this year's workshop, to be held April 25 to May 1, 2006, at Balay Kalinungan, University of St. La Salle in Bacolod City , Negros Occidental. Fifteen fellowships will be awarded according to genre and language. Grants will cover board and lodging and a partial transportation subsidy. Deadline for application is on March 31, 2006. Interested parties may send two short stories, six poems, or two short plays for consideration, signed with a pseudonym, along with a sealed business envelope containing the author's real name and pseudonym, a 2x2" ID photo, and a short resumé. Works must be submitted in five hard copies, manuscript format 12 pt Times New Roman, letter-size paper), accompanied by a soft copy (MS Word format) on a diskette. Works may be in English, Filipino, Tagalog, Hiligaynon, or Cebuano. Send applications to: Dr. Gloria Fuentes, college of Arts and Sciences, University of St. La Salle , La Salle Avenue , Bacolod City, Negros Occidental 6100. Inquiries may be sent to glofuentes@yahoo.com . This year's panelists include Cirilo Bautista, Marjorie Evasco, Elsi Coscoluella, Rayboy Pandan, Genevieve Asenjo, and Malou Jacob.
The Iyas Creative Writing Workshop is sponsored by the University of St. La Salle , the Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Center of De La Salle University, and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
February 11, 2006
Writer for Children Lara Saguisag to Give Lecture
UP ICW to hosts Prof. Lara Saguisag will give a lecture entitled "Vs.: Expressing Conflict in Poetry for Children" at the CAL AVR, 2 nd floor, Bulwagang Rizal, UP Diliman Campus on 16 February 2006 from 2 to 5 p.m. The reactors will be Prof. Carla Pacis, Resident Fellow of the UP Institute of Creative Writing (ICW), and Prof. Heidi H. Abad from the Department of English and Comparative Literature. The moderator will be poet and critic Prof. J. Neil C. Garcia. Lara Saguisag is the award-winning author of " There's a Duwende in My Brother's Soup ," " Tonyo's Wishes " and the forthcoming Cat Eyes . She received an MA in Children's Literature from Hollins University and is currently finishing her MFA in Creative Writing at The New School in New York City . She has presented papers on children's literature at the International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts in Florida , and was a panelist in the 2005 Children's Literature New England Institute. She is the recipient of the CLNE Early Career Fellowship and the Rutgers University Council on Children's Literature's Paula Danzinger Scholarship. She is a member of Kwentista ng Mga Tsikiting (KUTING) and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI.) She is currently at work on a book of poems for children. Teachers and students are especially invited. back to current news and events | home |
