CALL FOR PAPERS/
PRESENTATIONS FOR AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON POSTCOLONIAL PRAXIS

Theories, Cultural Practices and Movements for the Global South 

July 21-23, 2010 

Bulwagang Rizal (Faculty Center), College of Arts & Letters

University of the Philippines-Diliman

Through this conference, we invite participants from other parts of the Philippines and from other former colonies /countries in the “Global South” (i.e., “underdeveloped , “developing”, “Third World”, decolonizing societies) to re-examine and to re-territorialize Anglo-American, English, American, French, German, Dutch, Hispanic, Latin American Studies, programs and projects. The conference aims to provide a venue for the construction of a general programmatic of postcolonial knowledge-production and other postcolonial cultural practices which can be disseminated through formal educational institutions as curricula and courses; informal/alternative educational groups; professional organizations; mass media; computer-aided technologies, and through cultural networks .

PAPET ASEAN 2010 THIS FEBRUARY

For the first time in Pinoy theater history, ASEAN artists, experts and scholars on puppetry converge in a 3-day celebration that is the 2nd ASEAN Puppetry Festival, dubbed “PAPET ASEAN 2010: Celebrating ASEAN Puppet Traditions.”

The celebration, hosted by the country's first organization of Filipino puppeteering groups (known as the Samahan ng mga Papetir ng Pilipinas), brings the artistry of puppet-theater to the fore as the different ASEAN puppet traditions vie for the spotlight in the one venue for sharing the knowledge, expertise, passion, and advancement of the arts—the University of the Philippines.

ORTIGAS FOUNDATION ACTIVITIES FOR FEBRUARY

Ortigas Foundation, Inc. presents Mapping the Mind, to be held from February 17 to 27, 2010. This is a week long event that will feature talks, workshops and exhibit related to art and history, environment and literature.

Pause, Unpause

A visual arts exhibit by artist Liza Flores

February 18 to March 17

FULLY BOOKED SETS WRITING FOR HEALING SEMINAR

Fully Booked n the face of sadness, grief, even tragedy, words offer comfort and strength. By reading other people's words, we are given the comfort of knowing we are not alone. By writing with our own words, we are given the chance of molding our experiences for the sake of others.

The writing for healing workshop led by Palanca Award-winning poet Lawrence ypil will help participants discover the power of words to give shape to loss and meaning to tragedy. Through guided reflections, writing exercises, and journaling tips , the workshop will show the different ways creative expression through writing can help to heal not just ourselves, but also the people around us.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS TO WAYWAYA 2010 LITERARY FOLIO

Once in a blue moon, there was one on New Year's Eve*. The Manila Collegian will again be releasing its annual literary folio, WAYWAYA 2010, with the theme “Once in a Blue Moon.” We are encouraging students, faculty members, and personnel of the University of the Philippines Manila to contribute original, unpublished works (literary works such as poems, short stories, essays, lyrics, visual/digital artworks, photographs, etc.) for the completion of the folio. Entries are encouraged to align with the theme through portrayal of rare, important, and unforgettable moments in life.

GAWAD PANITIKAN PANGKALUSUGAN CONTEST LAUNCHED

The Mu Sigma Phi Sorority is now accepting entries for the first Gawad Panitikang Pangkalusuga: A Nationwide Children's Storybook Writing Competition on Health

Theme: "Tabi-tabi po" (Exploring Philippine Health Myths)

CALL FOR ENTRIES

The contest is open to all individuals aged 18 and above and currently residing in the Philippines. Participants are challenged to break away from a clinical, straightforward, and sanitized presentation of health, and to mold it in a form that is enjoyable and of interest for its young audience. We highly encourage participants to explore different writing methods, literary forms (prose or poetry), genres (i.e. comedy, horror, science fiction, fantasy) and approaches in presenting an otherwise serious and scientific topic. Entries should be easy to read by children aged five to ten (5-10) years old, and can be easily relayed to them even by poorly literate adults (parents or guardians).

•  For its fourth issue, Likhaan: the journal of Contemporary Philippine Literature 4, will accept submissions in the following genres, in both English and Filipino:

•  Short stories ranging from about 12 to 30 pages double-spaced, in 11-12 points Times New Roman, New York, Palatino, Book Antiqua, Arial or some such standard font. (A suite of short pieces will be considered.)

•  A suite of four to seven poems, out of which the editors might choose three to five. (Long poems will be considered in lieu of a suite.)

•  Creative nonfiction (essays, memoirs, profiles, etc.), subject to the same length limitations as short stories (see above).

•  Critical/ scholarly essays, subject to the same length limitations as short stories (see above).

•  Excerpts from graphic novels, or full short graphic stories, for reproduction in black and white on no more than 10 printed pages, 6” x 9”. (Excerpts should be accompanied by a synopsis of the full narrative.)

CALL FOR MANUSCRIPTS TO THE 49TH SILLIMAN UNIVERSITY NATIONAL WRITERS WORKSHOP

The Silliman University National Writers Workshop is now accepting applications for the 49th National Writers Workshop to be held 3-21 May 2010 in Dumaguete City.

This Writers Workshop is offering fifteen fellowships to promising young writers who would like a chance to hone their craft and refine their style. Fellows will be provided housing, a modest stipend, and a subsidy to partially defray costs of their transportation.

UST ANNOUNCES FIRST THOMASIAN WRITERS WORKSHOP

The office of the Writer-in-Residence of the University of Santo Tomas is announcing the holding of the very first Thomasian Writers Workshop which will be held this summer at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) campus in Manila.

This first of a series of annual workshops catering exclusively to Thomasians is open to writers—students, alumni, faculty members or non-teaching staffers—who have not been awarded fellowships to any national writing workshop.

The workshop will be held from May 10 to 15, 2010 at the St. Raymund's Building in UST and the last two days of the workshop will be tentatively held in a resort in Laguna.

ASENJO LAUNCHES FIRST EVER NOVEL, LUMBAY NG DILA

Genevieve L. Asenjo will be launching her first novel, Lumbay ng Dila, on February 19, 2010 at 2 p.m. at Ariston Estrada Seminar Room, LS Bldg., De La Salle University, Manila . Published by C & E Publishing, Inc. for the Academic Publications Office of De La Salle University, the launching is co-sponsored by the Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Center and the Department of Literature.

The synopsis says: Siya si Sadyah Zapanta Lopez. Apo ng dating Assemblyman ng Antique na inakusahang mastermind sa Guinsang-an Bridge Massacre noong 1984, anak nina Kumander Pusa at Kumander Rafflesia ng Coronacion "Kumander Waling-Waling" Chiva Command ng Central Panay . Sundan ang paghahanap niya ng katotohanan mula Antique, Iloilo, Manila, Naga, at Bangkok kasama sina Stephen Chua, Ishmael Onos, at Priya Iyer.

UP PRESS TO LAUNCH AGAW DILIM, AGAW LIWANAG

Lualhati M. Abreu will be launching her book Agaw Dilim, Agaw Liwanag on January 29 at the UP Press Bookstore in Balay Kalinaw, UP Diliman. The launch will start at 3 p.m. and is sponsored by the First Quarter Storm Movement.

Agaw Dilim, Agaw Liwanag won the Gawad Likhaan: UP Centennial Literary Awards creative nonfiction category. The other winners of the Gawad Likhaan like Jerry Gracio's Aves and Jose Marte Abueg's Bird Lands, River Nights and Other Melancholies have also been published by the UP Press.

UP DECL TO HOST POSTCOLONIAL PRAXIS CONFERENCE

Through this conference, we invite participants from other parts of the Philippines and from other former colonies /countries in the “Global South” (i.e., “underdeveloped , “developing”, “ Third World ”, decolonizing societies) to re-examine and to re-territorialize Anglo-American, English, American, French, German, Dutch, Hispanic, Latin American Studies, programs and projects. The conference aims to provide a venue for the construction of a general programmatic of postcolonial knowledge-production and other postcolonial cultural practices which can be disseminated through formal educational institutions as curricula and courses; informal/alternative educational groups; professional organizations; mass media; computer-aided technologies, and through cultural networks. To be engaged in this process are hundreds of scholars from the humanities and social sciences, teachers, creative writers, journalists and broadcast media practitioners , studio, visual and performance artists, architects, design specialists.

TABOAN GOES TO CEBU

On February 10-12, 2010, over a hundred literary pens will be scrawling in Cebu as the city plays host to the national writers' confab dubbed Taboan: 2nd Philippine Writers Festival. Taboan is a Cebuano word meaning “gathering” or “trading at the market place.”

Now on its second year, the 2010 Taboan festival gives the reigns to the Visayan writers. This, according to Ricardo de Ungria, head of the Subcommission on the Arts of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and director of the Philippine International Arts Festival, is for the Visayan authors to have the center stage this year. “Our intention is to make the focus of the Taboan different each year. Last year, the focus was Luzon. For 2010, it will be the Visayas. The year after that will be Mindanao,” he shared.

In celebration of the National Arts Month, the Arts Research and Training Institute in Southern Tagalog, Incorporated (ARTIST Inc.) will open its PARAGOS Performance Season with a musical theatre production entitled Marya sa Ulnan on February 5, 2010 at 2:00 and 4:00 pm in D.L. Umali Hall, UP Los Banos, Laguna. Marya sa Ulnan consists of two musical plays, namely: Sina Marya at si Kiling and Igway sa Ulnan .

Si Marya at si Kiling is a re-invented story of the legend of Mount Makiling highlighting children's rights. In this play, the origin of the shape of Mt Makiling is seen as a fusion of two children characters. (The play won 2 nd place in 2005 Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature Full-length Play Category)

UBOD NEW AUTHORS NAMED

The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Ateneo Institute for Literary Arts and Practices (AILAP) have finalized the list of accepted new authors for the project entitled UBOD: The New Authors Series II. This creative endeavor had its first inception back in 2005, when the chapbooks of forty (40) new authors from different parts of the country were launched at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

For this year, fourteen (14) authors from different regions were chosen to have their literary works published as chapbooks. These new authors are: Sherma Espino Benosa (Short story, Iluko), Aida Campos Tiama (Poetry, Iluko), Christoffer Mitch Cerda (Short Story, Tagalog), Mar Anthony Simon dela Cruz (Short Story, Tagalog), Marlon Hacla (Poetry, Tagalog), Francisco Arias Montesena (Poetry, Tagalog), Jerome Hipolito (Poetry, Bikol), Adrian V. Remodo (Poetry, Bikol), Jay Gallera Malaga (Poetry, Hiligaynon), JV Perez (Short Story, Hiligaynon), Leonilo Lopido (Poetry, Waray), Phil Harold Mercurio (Poetry, Waray), Janis Claire B. Salvacion (Poetry, Waray), and Noel P. Tuazon (Poetry, Binisaya-Sugbuanon).

PAPET ASEAN COMING TO UP DILIMAN

“PAPET ASEAN 2010: Celebrating ASEAN Puppet Traditions” is a 3-day celebration of artistry, solidarity, and life as distinguished puppet artists and experts/scholars meet, perform and discuss the rich tradition of puppetry in the ASEAN.

Puppets come alive on Feb. 24 (Festival Opening) and Feb. 25-26 (10 am & 2:30 pm shows @ the Abelardo Hall Auditorium). The festival will feature Mascots and Puppets Specialists ( Singapore ), Pak Yusoff Mamat ( Malaysia ), 2 Indonesian dalangs, Anino Shadowplay Collective ( Philippines ), Ony Carcamo ( Philippines ), Roppets Edutainment ( Philippines ), and Teatrong Mulat ng Pilipinas (Philippines). A seminar on puppetry-in-education is scheduled on Feb. 25.

PAPET ASEAN 2010 coincides with the celebration of the National Arts Month, the U.P. Diliman Month and the U.P. Department of Speech Communication and Theater Arts 50th Anniversary.

GINA ALAJAR AND BIBETH ORTEZA TAKE TURNS AS MRS. B

On April 28, 2007, farmer-activist Jonas Burgos, son of Edita and the late press freedom icon Jose “Joe” Burgos Jr., was abducted by unidentified men and a woman while having lunch at the Hapag Kainan restaurant in Ever Gotesco Mall in Quezon City. He was dragged into a waiting van and has been missing since then.

Jonas' love for farming and the poor farmers of the society prompted him to take up BS Agriculture at the Benguet State University. When he was abducted, he was a member of the Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa Bulacan (AMB), a provincial chapter of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP). While managing the family's farm in Bulacan, he shared his knowledge with other farmers and introduced organic farming to them.

Since the abduction almost three years ago, the Burgos family, headed by Edith Burgos, has been searching relentlessly for Jonas. Mrs. Burgos has taken all the avenues -- courts, police, military, morgues, government agencies including the Office of the President, international organizations and the streets -- to look for her son.

Edith Burgos now brings her search to the stage with a monologue dubbed as “Mrs. B." The one-act play will be starred by veteran actresses/directors Gina Alajar and Bibeth Orteza who will alternately play the role of Edith Burgos.

DULAANG UP STAGES ANG MUNTIK NANG DI MAPIGILANG PAGHAHARI NI ARTURO UI

On its final offering this 34 th theater season, Dulaang UP presents Bertolt Brecht's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui in translation, Ang Muntik Nang Di Mapigilang Paghahari ni Arturo Ui.

Alexander Cortez directs a new translation by UP Theater students Patrick Valera, Katte Sabate and Joshua So; Music composition by Diwa de Leon and Choreography by Dexter Santos. Musical Direction by Krina Cayabyab, Lighting Design by John Batalla, Set Design by Ohm David, Sound Design by Jethro Joaquin, Photography by Jojit Lorenzo, Poster Design by Paolo Santillan, Video design by Winter David, and Costume Styling by Trineth Villasis.

POET'S PICTUREBOOK NO.35 NOW OUT

faith&fate, poet'sPicturebook No. 35, the first of Year Three, is now online. New poets and new poetry. Contributions continue to surprise us, but artists & photographers seem a little laid back these days. Send those fantastic shots now. For our cover. Our inside pages. To view the new and continually intiguing little online magazine, poet'sPicturebook.

Send your contributions of poetry, art, photography, and essays for Poet'sPicturebook, the monthly literary & art ezine, to this email address, or view it at http://marnescriptsmain.blogspot.com/

IYAS WORKSHOP NOW OPEN FOR APPLICATIONS

Be One of the 15 Fellows of the 10th IYAS Creative Writing Workshop. This will be held on April 25-May 01, 2010 at the University of St. La Salle, Bacolod City.

• Applicants should submit original work: either 6 poems, 2 short stories, or 2 one-act play using a pseudonym, in five (5) computer-encoded copies of entries; font size 12, bound or fastened, in separate folders, and soft copies in a CD (MSWord).

• These are to be accompanied by a sealed size 10 business envelope with the author's real name and pseudonym, a 2x2 ID photo, and short resume, which must be mailed on or before March 12, 2010.

NCCA LAUNCHES CULTURE PAGE WRITING COMPETITION FOR SCHOOL ORGANS

The Culture Page Writing Competition is one of the activities lined-up for the 2010 Philippine International Arts Festival to celebrate the National Arts Month (NAM) per Presidential Proclamation No. 683 come February organized by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).

With the overall goal of promoting Filipino arts and artists to all sectors of society especially to the grass roots level, NCCA reaches out to the youth sector by raising their consciousness and sensitivity to the beauty, diversity, and richness of our arts and culture hence, this competition is being launched to encourage schools, colleges, and universities to feature upcoming NAM events through essays, editorials, photos, photo essays, poems, and other articles relevant to the celebration of NAM.

BOOK COUNCIL OF SINGAPORE INVITES FILIPINO WRITERS AND ILLUSTRATORS TO ASIAN FESTIVAL OF CHILDREN'S CONTENT

For the past 10 years, the National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS or The Book Council in short) has organised the Asian Children's Writers & Illustrators Conference (ACWIC) to develop new materials for children. It now aims to expand ACWIC 's reach by including the new initiative that AFCC promises. The Festival, with a series of innovative programmes, seeks to fill the direct need for quality Asian Children's content worldwide, particularly in Asia .

The inaugural AFCC will be held in Singapore in May 2010 and will be organised by the Book Council and The Arts House.

Download their fact sheet here (in MS Word format, right click and save content as).

View their e-flyer here.

This book examines the discourse of contemporary West Visayan literature on region/nation and the global order, which may evince a particular imagining of the nation from a regional standpoint. It describes how the region and the nation are constructed and deconstructed in the writings in the three lingua franca (Hiligaynon, Filipino, and English), published from 1986 (EDSA Revolution) to 2003.

Cruz studies the award winning work of Leoncio Deriada, John Iremil Teodoro, Vicente Garcia Groyon, Alice Tan-Gonzales, Genevieve L. Asenjo, Isabel Sebullen, and Alice Sun-Cua. He argues that "Contemporary West Visayan Literature, metaphorically speaking, is rechanneling the way Filipinos think about the Filipino nation and its regions, to keep the center of the nation from making regional belonging a reason for exclusion.