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Wednesday, January 26, 2011
2011 INTERNATIONAL MOTHER LANGUAGE DAY
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
My Kurta Day ;-p
Friday, January 21, 2011
Money, vanity, necessity: Self-publishing in Philippine literature
By Patricia May B. Jurilla, Ph.D.
from The Forum - July-August 2010 - (Vol 11 Issue 4)
There is a certain stigma that comes with self-publishing. By personally taking on the task and expense of printing, distributing, and promoting his/her own work, the author invites suspicion—be it of mediocrity (the work must have been rejected by professional publishers); hubris (how proud is the author of the work to go so far as spending for its printing and distribution); vanity (how conceited is he/she to think that anyone else would be interested not only in reading but even buying his/her work); unexplained, possibly ill-gotten, wealth (particularly for literary authors who are generally known or expected to have limited financial resources, where did he/she get the money?); or all of the above. There is the tendency then to regard self-publishing, which is also commonly referred to or scoffed at as ‘vanity publishing,’ as less credible or legitimate than the activity of professional, commercial, and institutional producers of books or the real publishers. In the particular case of literary authors, the stigma of self-publishing is perhaps more marked due to idealised notions on the incompatibility of art (as noble or nearly sublime) and commerce (as materialistic or much too worldly). The self-publishing literary author boldly crosses the boundary between art and commerce by not only expressing him/herself but also selling him/herself thereafter. » Read more...
Thanks to Angelo Ancheta for the link ;-p
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Thursday, January 20, 2011
Haiku
after the wind
a bird's nest
on my porch
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empty house...
the rustle of children
playing hide and seek
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Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Sonnet to a Pilgrim Soul
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Friday, January 14, 2011
TOWARD A BORDERLESS LITERATURE
by SHERMA E. BENOSA
published in The Manila Times Friday, January 14, 2011
WHEN writers reflected on the theme of the 2010 Philippine PEN Conference in Cebu City from December 4 to 5, two strong images emerged. The first image, crafted by the conference keynote speaker, Judge Simeon Dumdum Jr., was of birds.
“When I reflect on our convention theme, ‘Solidarity in Literature without Borders,’ especially on the phrase ‘without borders,’ I think of birds. For me, they exemplify what it means to live without borders,” he said.
“Of course, that solidarity and that borderlessness now take on more sophisticated forms, consistent with advances in technology. But the basic things remain—our commitment as writers to justice and compassion, and the rest of the virtues that advance the causes that dignify and fulfill the human race . . .
“Writers and birds should not be put inside cages, whether territorial or political,” he added.
The second image, which came about on the second day of the conference, was of seas embracing islands.
Writer Ruth Elynia Mabanglo, who sat in the panel of writers in the Americas, shared during the open forum that to achieve borderlessness we have to focus on the seas that separate the country’s more than 7,000 islands.
They separate us, and yet they also unite us, Mabanglo told her fellow delegates.
Defining, crossing borders
To speak of literary borderlessness is to also speak of borders. For, in order to achieve the former, one must first identify and cross or defy the latter.
So what seem to be the borders in literature, especially in the Philippine setting?
As they shared their writing praxis, their works, and the literary situations and experiences in their respective regions/countries and languages, the panelists shared the literary borders they crossed, or are presently facing, in their literary journey.
Definitely, these borders are not just geographic, although the country’s geography contributes to the creation of these borders. As realized by writer Jaime An Lim when he tried to identify Mindanao writers for an anthology, writers are mobile and hence, identities based on localities are arbitrary.
In his opening remarks where he explained the conference theme, National Artist for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera spoke of and called for “writing that opens up cultures and demolishes borders set up by racism, elitism, gender discrimination and ideological stereotyping.”
Cebu writer Erma Cuison who talked about women writing about war seemed to have identified gender as a border.
But for many of the writers, especially those who are writing in their vernaculars, the one border to cross in this multilingual society that favors English first and Tagalog (or F/Pilipino) second while relegating all the other Philippine languages to lower standing is language use.
Many of the panelists, especially those in the Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao panels, shared how, in writing in their vernacular, they had to go through rough terrains and how they were able to cross the borders set by the country’s linguistic situation.
Lumad writer Telesforo Sungkit Jr. shared how minority languages (minority in terms of number of speakers) are left out in the national literary scene, and how difficult it is for writers in these languages to gain the recognition they deserve.
“Lumad languages are yet to be recognized in the literary sphere of this country. So for now, a lumad writer could just content himself in tongue-bending. He will be using the same languages employed by the colonizers past and present to subjugate his race,” he lamented.
“In a nation where the history being taught excludes the lumads in its ‘national’ narratives, it is indeed an epic task for a Higaonon/lumad writer to craft his own narratives,” he added.
Poet Santiago Villafania shared that Pangasinan literature became silent from the 1960s to 1990s and that Pangasinan almost died as a literary language. And it would have, had it not been for the efforts of some writers including Villafania to write and publish in the language. Villafania shared that he self-published his books, and even utilized the Internet to promote and keep Pangasinan literature alive. To date, a work by Villafania has been translated to various foreign languages.
Bikol writer Carlos Arejola, on the other hand, shared some of the initiatives in Bicol, which includes literary workshops and competitions, most of which, he himself conceptualized and spearheaded. “Things look rosy in the Bicol literary scene today. It is a good time to be a Bicolano writer,” he shared.
Chancellor of the University of the Philippines Baguio Priscilla Macansantos shared that Baguio is still without a distinct literature. In her speech, she shared that Sinai Hamada could have been the “flag bearer of modern literature” in this part of the country. But Hamada has long since died, and no one has followed his example, or crafted a new, distinct face for Baguio literature.
This writer shared that although Ilocano has a much longer literary tradition than many of the non-Tagalog languages in the country, Ilocano writers have also gone through (and still go through) the same hardships that other vernacular writers face.
And although international delegates Alvin Pang of Singapore, Robin Lim of Indonesia and Joseph Akawa Ushie of Nigeria chose to read some of their works, like most of the foreign delegates, they also shared the language situations in their respective countries during the open forum following their presentation.
Pang said that other Singapore languages have also been relegated to the periphery and that perhaps there may be very little literature written in these languages. “We don’t talk about our ties with Britain, we don’t talk about Malay and Malay literature and yet these are important part of what Singapore is,” he shared. He added that although they may not actively try to reclaim these languages through literature, Singapore writers are strongly against government move to wipe out Singapore English in favor of “proper English.”
Asked about the language situation in Indonesia, Lim commented that writers there are also baffled by the question of “keeping one’s culture and at the same time joining the international dialogue.”
Mother-tongue education and literature
As noted by Elmer Ordoñez right after the presentation of the Luzon panel, the issue of vernacular writing and the struggles vernacular writers go through are long-standing issues and have in fact arisen in a previous literary conference.
But the fact that these still surface a decade or so after that conference just shows that writing in the vernacular still faces similar challenges. The good thing is that, as Ordoñez himself remarked, the antagonism that used to accompany such discussions are no longer present.
Regionalistic tendencies seem to be slowly being crossed.
Or perhaps because change is slowly creeping in, not only in the literary scene, but also in the country’s educational system. More writers are now reclaiming their mother tongue, and the bilingual education that bedeviled mother tongues and vernacular literatures is soon to be replaced by a mother-tongue based multilingual education which is seen not only as the solution to the problem on the quality of education in the country, but also as a way to promote (finally) the country’s various languages.
Many of the writers did call for the promotion and support of mother tongue literatures. In ending her speech, Macansantos said, “Languages die everyday from disuse, and consequently, cultures are also threatened. The younger, possibly more educated members of indigenous groups must be encouraged [and supported] to write, to keep language and culture alive.”
This writer also ended her speech by calling on her fellow writers to help regional languages and literatures flourish side-by-side Philippine English and the Tagalog (P/Filipino) literatures. “We do this, not because we promote regionalism, but because we recognize that we are composed of various regions; that we have hundreds of languages whose literature must flourish in order for us to know more about our nationhood, and to understand better what makes the Filipino,” she said, emphasizing that recognizing and promoting mother-tongue literatures in the national sphere completes the landscape of Philippine literature.
Or, in the words Mindanao writer Steven Patrick Fernandez, regional literatures are “the streams that feed the mainstream of national literature.”
Indeed, in order for literature to become borderless, it needs not only to cross borders, both external and internal, but also to learn to be inclusive and appreciative of the literatures that make up the national stream. As Vicente Garcia Groyon put it, “it is recognizing difference without making difference as a reason for exclusion.”
Related News: Resil Mojares: ‘We have not unsettled Philippine literature enough’ (PDI, 12/20/2010)
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Thursday, January 13, 2011
SP OKs Creation of Historical Commission
"History unites a nation" - These were the words of 4th district Board Member Mojamito Libunao as the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) passed the provincial ordinance no. 9-2010 creating the Pangasinan Historical and Cultural Commission (PHCC) during their regular session.
The ordinance was authored by Board Members Mojamito Libunao, Alfonso Bince, Jr. and Ranjit Shahani. It can be recalled that one of the main thrusts of Governor Amado T. Espino Jr.’s administration is to promote, enhance and preserve Pangasinan’s historical and cultural resources and values to further complement the gains of the tourism industry of the province as well as to protect its environs.
According to Libunao, "PHCC will make the people of Pangasinan aware of their common heritage and history", even as he added that "it will create historical and cultural enlightenment and social consciousness among Pangasinenses."
PHCC will undertake research efforts and conduct evaluations to determine and verify genuine and authentic historical and cultural records of Pangasinan and its municipalities.
Further, PHCC shall also coordinate with the National Historical Institute all matters affecting any of its decision on Pangasinan’s history and culture and act as an advisory body of the Office of the Governor and the SP related to history and culture of Pangasinan.
Lawyer Gonzalo Duque, chairman of the Pangasinan Historical Committee, Inc. lauded the Provincial Board for enacting the ordinance and “this will prepare Pangasinan to greater heights” because according to him people that do not know its history will never move forward.
The commission shall be composed of 10 members representing agencies of government and private sectors imbued with expertise and interest in the areas of history, culture and other allied studies to be appointed by the Provincial Governor with a term of five years. (PIO/Darwin Magalong)
Source: pangalaTalk.com
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Wednesday, January 12, 2011
University of Pangasinan Poets Society
Found this certification while sorting through my old files. I co-founded the University of Pangasinan Poets Society (UPPS) in 1990 with my college friend Faustino Chiong. It was a defunct organization already after we left the university.
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Saturday, January 08, 2011
Taboan 2011
With the third Taboan, the International Writers Festival will complete its first circuit of the major island groups of the Philippines: Taboan 2011 will be held in Mindanao, the Land of Promise, in the premier city of Davao.
The festival will run from February 10 to February 12, 2011. It will be held at the Royal Mandaya Hotel. More than 80 delegates from all over the Philippines are expected to attend, along with five international representatives.
In recognition of the indigenous peoples of Mindanao, Taboan 2011 will highlight native literature in its conference sessions, programs, and cultural activities.
» Conference schedule | delegates
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Monday, January 03, 2011
2nd UPSP Creative Writing and Seminar Workshop Call for Submission and Participation
The Ulupan na Pansiansia'y Salitan Pangasinan (UPSP) will hold the 2nd UPSP Creative Writing and Seminar Workshop on July 27-29, 2011 in Lingayen, Pangasinan.
It has two components: creative writing to hone the literary skills of Pangasinan writers by becoming one of the thirteen UPSP fellows to be selected and seminar workshop for teachers in elementary, secondary and tertiary levels to acquaint them with Pangasinan literature, literary craft and criticism, orthography, culture and history.
To qualify as a UPSP Fellow, writers are invited to submit ANY of the following in Pangasinan, Ibaloi, Kankanaey, Kalanguya, Ilongot, Iloko, Bolinao, Tagalog (with Pangasinan or English translation), English (with Pangasinan translation): three (3) poems, one (1) short story, one (1) essay, one (1) zarzuela in hard copy. An application form with 2x2 picture and either notarized OR attested to by a witness as to the originality of the work must be included. Five fellows will be allotted for Pangasinan, one each for Ibaloi, Kankanaey, Kalanguya, Ilongot, Iloko, Bolinao, Tagalog and English.
The fellows will be provided with transportation allowance and accommodation.
Entries become the property of the UPSP. Applicants should keep a copy of their entries. Deadline of submission is on June 30, 2011.
Send applications to: Erwin S. Fernandez, 04 Mitura St. San Vicente West, Urdaneta City, Pangasinan, to Dr. Catalina L. Felicitas or Prof. Elnora B. Dudang, c/o Department of Natural Science, CAST, PSU Lingayen. Entries sent through email at balonsilew@yahoo.com
For inquiries, please call 09152881008 or email the same address above.
Participating in the seminar workshop would mean registering on the first day by paying a fee for the kit, snacks and meals, attending all the lectures and participating in the discussions as warranted with a certificate to be given on the last day. Pre-registration form should be sent to the same email address on or before July 26.
You may download the application and pre-registration form here.
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A Tao 道 Sign
Santiago B. Villafania, Pangasinan poet, is the author of poetry collections Pinabli tan arum ni'ran Anlong (Beloved & Other Poems), Balikas na Caboloan (Voices from Caboloan) published by the National Commission for the Culture and the Arts (NCCA) under its UBOD New Authors Series (2005) and Malagilion: Sonnets tan Villanelles (2007). Villafania is one of the 11 Outstanding Pangasinenses conferred with the 2010 ASNA Award for the Arts and Culture (literature) category during the first-ever Agew na Pangasinan and 430th Foundation Day of Pangasinan on April 2010. Read more »
