organizations
LIKHAAN: The U.P. Institute of Creative Writing
The U.P. Creative Writing Center (UP-CWC) was established by the U.P. Board of Regents on 7 December 1978; then, on 25 July 2002, the Board of Regents made it into an Institute. From the beginning, its mandate has been (1) to stimulate writers from all parts of the country to create and contribute to national cultural development; and (2) to assert the leadership of U.P. in creative writing. The Likhaan: U.P. Institute of Creative Writing (UP-ICW) is composed of Associates, Resident Fellows and a Board of Advisers under a Director appointed by the Board of Regents.
The founding Director of the UP-CWC was Francisco Arcellana, National Artist for Literature, from 1979 to 1982. He was succeeded by the distinguished poet Alejandrino G. Hufana (1983-1985). From 1986 to 1995, the Director was University Professor Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio, founder and resident playwright-director of Teatrong Mulat ng Pilipinas. She was succeeded by University Professor Gémino H. Abad (1995-1998), Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo (1998-2002), Virgilio S. Almario (2002-2003), and V. E. Carmelo D. Nadera Jr. (2003 to the present).
From its beginning, the UP-CWC has conducted, as one of its major outreach programs, the U.P. National Writers Workshop every summer; indeed, this Workshop was instituted long before in 1965 by writers among the U.P. faculty, and since then has graduated 882 writing fellows (as of April 2004). From 1995 to 1997, the Workshop was held thrice a year - during summer in Baguio, and during the semestral break in U.P. in the Visayas and in U.P. Mindanao. From 1998 to 2002, it was held in Baguio and in the south. On 22-26 October 2003, the UP-CWC launched the Kumustahan Writers' Seminar at the Soka Gakkai International Cultural Center, Tagaytay City; there, fourteen alumni of the U.P. National Writers Workshop, all in mid-career as writers, discussed their respective works-in-progress.
Under its Publication Program, the Likhaan put out the best of Philippine writing, from 1995 to 2002, in two annual anthologies - The Likhaan Book of Poetry and FictionI and Ang Aklat Likhaan ng Tula at Maikling Kuwento - edited by the Associates and Resident Fellows; this series included The Likhaan Book of Philippine Drama and The Likhaan Book of Philippine Criticism. The Likhaan also produced two college textbooks on Philippine Literature, one in English and the other in Filipino. The Likhaan Director sits in the U.P. Press Board, while its Associates and Resident Fellows serve as readers of literary manuscripts submitted to the U.P. Press.
As an Institute, the Likhaan seeks to develop short-term, modular, interdisciplinary, bilingual, and non-formal courses toward the eventual integration of the Creative Writing programs of the Department of English and Comparative Literature and the Department of Filipino and Philippine Literature.
The other regular projects of the Likhaan are: 1) PANAYAM: The ICW Lecture Series on Literature, where Associates, Resident Fellows, Advisers, and other writers in U.P. deliver lectures on the practice of their craft; 2) KUWENTUHAN, where visiting writers from abroad and other writers outside U.P. share their expertise with the writing community, especially the Creative Writing and Malikhaing Pagsulat majors; 3) PALIHAN: certificate courses geared toward skills training in translation, writing for children, etc.; 4) LITERATOUR: creative writing workshops conducted in schools and other venues all over the country on a package-deal basis; and 5) the annual Madrigal-González Best First Book Award in English and in Filipino.
There are also special projects and other regular activities such as the three-part U.P. Writers Video Documentary , the annual Writers' Night in Early December, and the text-a-poem contests.
The ICW staff is composed of the following:
• Victor Emmanuel Carmelo D. Nadera, Jr. - Director/concurrently Associate (Filipino)
• Marby Villaceran - Deputy Director
• Virgilio S. Almario - Associate (Filipino)
• Ma. Josephine C. Barrios - Associate (Filipino)
• José Y. Dalisay, Jr. - Associate (English)
• J. Neil C. Garcia - Associate (English)
• Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo - Associate (English)
• Anthony M. Juan, Jr. - Associate for Drama
• Lilia Quindoza Santiago - Associate (Filipino)
• René O. Villanueva - Associate for Drama
Regional Associates:
• Merlie M. Alunan - Regional Associate (U.P. College Tacloban)
• Leoncio P. Deriada - Regional Associate (U.P. in the Visayas-Miag-ao, Iloilo)
• Ricardo M. de Ungria - Regional Associate (U.P. Mindanao)
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