13 Accepted as Fellows in 52nd SU Nat’l Writers Workshop

13 Accepted as Fellows in 52nd SU Nat’l Writers Workshop

Thirteen young creative writers from around the Philippines have been accepted into the 52nd Silliman University National Writers Workshop slated May 6 at the Rose Lamb Sobrepeña Writers Village in Camp Look-out, Valencia. 

This year's fellows are: Nolin Adrian de Pedro (University of the Philippines [UP] – Diliman), Corina Marie B. Arenas (UP-Diliman), Brylle Bautista Tabora (University of Santo Tomas), Lyde Gerard Villanueva (Silliman University) and Trish Shishikura (Miriam College) for poetry; Rhea Politado (UP-Diliman), Sophia Marie Lee (UP-Diliman), Tracey dela Cruz (Ateneo de Manila University [ADMU] ) and Patricia Verzo (ADMU) for fiction; Arnie Q. Mejia (Pacasum College), Ana Felisa Lorenzo (UP-Diliman) and Jennifer dela Rosa Balboa (De La Salle University [DLSU] ) for creative nonfiction; and Mario Mendez (DLSU) for drama.

They will be joined by special Singaporean fellows Christine Leow and Nurul Asyikin from Singapore Management University.

The members of panel of writers/critics for this year include Director-in-Residence Susan S. Lara; Dumaguete-based writers Bobby Flores Villasis and César Ruìz Aquino; and guest panelists Dean Francis Alfar, DM Reyes, John Jack Wigley, Jose Y. Dalisay Jr., Ricardo de Ungria, Marjorie Evasco, Alfred Yuson, Gémino H. Abad and Grace Monte de Ramos. Two slots are reserved for foreign panelists whose names will be announced on a later date. 

The workshop, which traditionally lasts for three weeks, is the oldest creative writing workshop of its kind in Asia. It was founded in 1962 by S.E.A. Write awardee Dr. Edilberto K. Tiempo and National Artist for Literature Dr. Edith L. Tiempo, and was recently given the Tanging Parangal in the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining by the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

This year, the workshop is co-sponsored by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the Embassy of the United States of America in Manila, and the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia.

For more information about forthcoming events during the workshop, please email Workshop Coordinator Ian R. Casocot at [email protected], or call the Department of English and Literature at (035) 422-6002 loc. 520.