Archives November 14, 2018

JUAN MIGUEL SEVERO and VIM NADERA SPEAK IN UST

Juan Miguel Severo, foremost figure of the Spoken Word phenomenon in the Philippines, and V.E. Carmelo “Vim” Nadera, Jr., SEA Write recipient and Director of the Makiling High School for the Arts, were the featured speakers of the USTingan Roundtable Discussion on Performance Poetry and the Spoken Word on April 28, 2018, Saturday, 3:00-5:00 PM, at the Thomas Aquinas Research Center (TARC) Auditorium, University of Santo Tomas, España Blvd., Sampaloc, Manila.

The event, aptly titled “Ang Tula Bilang Bigkas at Palabas,” is organized by the UST Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies (UST CCWLS), with the cooperation of the UST Literary Society.

USTingan is the semestral informal gathering of writers, teachers, students, and lovers of literature, at which certain topics of contemporary interest — involving writing, publishing, and popular culture — are discussed. This semester’s USTingan, which will focus on the Spoken Word and Performance Poetry, is the UST CCWLS’s contribution to the National Literature Month.

Juan Miguel Severo is a spoken word artist and actor who rose to fame with his performances that usually focus on unrequited love. He started performing in Sev’s Café in 2014, where he met Words Anonymous, a very active group of spoken word artists, of which he is now the most popular member. His fan base further increased when he played Rico in the Jadine hit romcom TV series On the Wings of Love. His loves poems, like “Ang Huling Tula na Isusulat Ko para sa Iyo,” had been going viral in the Net. Severo describes himself as “a writer who performs and a performer who writes.”

Vim Nadera is considered the “father of performance poetry in the Philippines.” He has represented the Philippines in various international literary festivals, seminars and conferences. He is a member of the UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines Culture Committee, Philippine Center for Gifted Education Board of Directors; Commission on Higher Education Technical Committee on Literature; and Philippine High School for the Arts Advisory Council. Aside from the SEA Write, he has received numerous awards, including The Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) and Natatanging Anak ng Quezon, the Philippine Centennial Literary Awards for both the epic and the novel in Filipino, the National Book Awards, and the Carlos Palanca Awards. A prolific editor, critic, columnist, translator and author, he has published numerous books in various literary journals.

UST Creative Writing Center Holds 9^th UST Authors Series

On October 2, 2018, the UST Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies (UST CCWLS) held the 9^th installment of the UST Authors Series, its bi-annual program which serves as a venue for its Resident Fellows to launch and discuss their latest works. This regular program, which also aims to update the university and the literary community on the latest individual productions of the members of the UST CCWLS, was co-sponsored by the UST Publishing House, with ample support provided by the UST Department of Literature and the UST Literary Society.

This latest edition of the UST Authors Series, titled Lumugar Ka!: Ang Lokasyon sa Pagsasalin, Talambuhay at Kritisismo, featured the following three titles, all published by the UST Publishing House: Finding Teo: Tula/Talambuhay, a biography by Joselito D. Delos Reyes, Chair of the UST Department of Literature and Humanities, Sa mga Pagitan ng Buhay at Iba pang Pagtutulay, a book of poetry translations by Ralph Semino Galán, UST CCWLS Assistant Director, and Ang Tagalabas sa Panitikan, a book of poetics and criticism by Chuckberry J. Pascual, Coordinator of the newly established B.A. Creative Writing program. Before the open forum, each author was given time to briefly talk about their new books.

The TARC Auditorium was packed with students from the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters and College of Education, and Far Eastern University, as well as guest writers. Also present at the event were Rev. Fr. Jesus Miranda, Jr., O.P., UST Secretary General, Prof. Joyce Arriola, Director of the UST Research Center for Culture, Arts and Humanities, Prof. Augusto Antonio Aguila, Executive Secretary to the Rector, and Prof. Camilla Vizconde, chair of the UST Department of English.

UST CCWLS Director and Prof. Emeritus Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo, in her closing remarks, emphasized how the variety of specializations of the UST CCWLS Resident Fellows can serve in their mentorship of students. Their unique perspective as producers of literature would also provide another dimension to students’ encounter with literary texts. UST Publishing House Director Ma. Ailil B. Alvarez provided an engaging critical commentary on each of the three new works as they were introduced to the audience.

The program was coordinated by Mr. Ned Parfan, assisted by Asst. Prof. Alvarez, while Mr. Jose P. Mojica of the Department of Media Studies hosted the event.

Since the Center reopened in 2012, a total of 34 books have been published by its member-authors, with four more manuscripts awaiting publication within the academic year.

UST Creative Writing Center Conducts Outreach Lecture Series in Enverga University  

The UST Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies (UST CCWLS) conducted a highly successful whole-day creative and critical writing outreach lecture series on July 25, 2018, Wednesay at the Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation (MSEUF) in Lucena City, Quezon Province. Dubbed as “Synergy in Literature Teaching and Writing in the 21^st Century,” the event featured the UST CCWLS’s Director, Assistant Director, and three of its Resident Fellows, who talked about various aspects of creative and critical writing.

In the morning session, Prof. Emeritus Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo, UST CCWLS Director, opened the series of lectures with the topic “The Importance of Literature and Creative Writing in the 21^st Century.” Assoc. Prof. Ralph Semino Galán, UST CCWLS Assistant Director, delivered a lecture on the very broad terrain of literary theory and criticism, from the moral approach in the study of literature to critical disability studies, as well as possible points of entry in Philippine culture and society by aspiring scholars of cultural studies.

In the afternoon session, Asst. Prof. Chuckberry J. Pascual, UST CCWLS Resident Fellow and incoming Coordinator of the newly established undergraduate Creative Writing program of the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters, offered incisive insights on the “hypebeast” phenomenon as a mode of resistance against cultural hegemony by urban underprivileged youth. Assoc. Prof. John Jack G. Wigley, UST CCWLS Resident Fellow and former UST Publishing House Director, gave pointers to young writers on how to be truly funny in Humor Writing using examples from his own work. And Joselito B. Zulueta, UST CCWLS Resident Fellow, Varsitarian Faculty Adviser, and Philippine Daily Inquirer Books and Arts Section Editor, gave indispensable pieces of advice on how to successfully run a “readable” campus paper, even paying attention to the layout and use of pointed fonts.

The UST CCWLS Outreach Lecture Series in SLSU was initiated and first organized in 2013 by UST CCWLS Resident Fellow and UST Department of Literature Chair Joselito D. Delos Reyes, a resident of Quezon Province. This year’s Outreach Lecture Series was incorporated into the annual Planning and Teambuilding Seminar of the UST CCWLS organized by Prof. Galán.