Annual SU Nat’l Writers Workshop officially opens

The longest-running creative writing workshop in the country and Asia is back.

Gathering twelve (12) writing fellows across different genres from different regions in the country, the 62nd Silliman University National Writers Workshop (SUNWW), which kickstarted Monday, June 24, 2024, at the Multipurpose Room (MPR), Silliman University, is now in full swing and will run until July 5, 2024.

A flagship program of the English and Literature Department and the Edilberto and Edith Tiempo Creative Writing Center, the two-week Workshop is currently headed by newly installed workshop director-in-residence and longtime SUNWW regular panelist Danilo Francisco “D.M.” M. Reyes.

More than fifty entries were submitted this year but only twelve made the cut. Workshop screeners D.M. Reyes, Jose Wendell Capili, and Marjorie Evasco narrowed down the list of accepted fellows, officially filling out the roster of emerging writers of this generation to take part in this year’s edition. They are:

A. Poetry

 

1. Margarita A. Labrador, Quezon City

2. Andrea Ingrid M. Lopez, Taytay, Rizal

3. John Dave B. Pacheco, General Santos City

B. Sugilanon

4. Jevin O. Astillero, Misamis Occidental

C. Fiction

5. Kyrios Hafid T. Concordia, Quezon City

6. Trisha Marie Matabalan, Maribojoc, Bohol

7. John Ray A. Pucay, Baguio City

8. Alyana Marie D. Aguja, General Santos City

D. Creative Nonfiction

9. Larraine Franchesca L. Lopez, Parañaque City

10. Sabrina Victoria M. Dayao, Malate, Manila

11. Maria Suson, Cebu City

E. Drama

12. Andrea Therese Nazareno, Dumaguete City

This year’s SUNWW Coordinator is Kaycee L. Melon. Joining her is the Workshop Secretariat: John Edgar C. Rubio, Deo Mar E. Suasin, Maria Hellene Grace D. Piñero, Honey Grace C. Tiongco, and Aaron James D. Jalalon. They also hold the Edilberto and Edith Tiempo Creative Writing Center (CWC) Secretariat roles under CWC Coordinator and English and Literature Department Chair Dr. Lady Flor Partosa-Koenig.

At the Opening Ceremony on June 24, D.M. Reyes stressed the importance of putting together a team that understands the vision of the workshop.

“When we come together and assemble the workshop team, it is not enough that we just bring in anybody who’s willing and interested to take part in it. It takes vision. It takes experience. It takes exposure so that people who will be coming in as part of the team are really literary professionals,” Reyes said in his opening message.

“They have ongoing experiences in the teaching of literature so they are affiliated with Silliman University either as new professors or aspiring professors of the English Department and the Senior High School Department. Added to this is the fact that over the years many of them have been apprenticing in the workshop,” he added.

Dr. Earl Jude Paul L. Cleope, officer-in-charge of the Office of the President and Vice President of Academic Affairs and Research welcomed all fellows and panelists in his message.

“All of us are happy at Silliman because, for the 62^nd time, we have the Silliman University National Writers Workshop… I hope and pray that in the next few years, the members of the 62^nd batch will also be in the limelight as literary icons of Philippine literature,” Cleope said.

Luminaries in contemporary Philippine literature will sit as panelists for the next two weeks at the MPR, including Exie Abola, John B. Labella, and Ian Rosales Casocot for the first week, followed by Susan Lara, Marjorie Evasco, and Ritchel Dorotan for the second week. Meanwhile, Dumaguete poet, novelist, educator, and SUNWW resident panelist Cesar Ruiz Aquino will participate remotely during the workshop.

Events open to the public for the two-week workshop include:

1. SUNWW lecture on “Becoming Earth: Edith L. Tiempo and the Poetics of Place” by workshop panelist John B. Labella on June 28, 2024 (9:00 AM) at the Audio-Visual Theatre
2. Book/Folio Launch of the 2023 fellows of the 61^st SUNWW on June 28, 2024 (10:30 AM) at the Audio-Visual Theatre
3. Special lecture on “Ars Poetica After Empire” by English and Literature Department faculty member Angela Gabrielle F. Flores on July 3, 2024 (1:00 PM) at the Audio-Visual Theatre
4. SUNWW lecture on “On the Short Fiction of Edilberto Tiempo” by SUNWW director-in-residence D.M. Reyes on July 5, 2024 (9:00 AM) at the National Museum of the Philippine-Dumaguete

Present at the Opening Ceremony were CWC Advisory Board members Dr. Mae Brigitt Bernadel L. Villordon, College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) dean; Dr. Alana Leilani C. Narciso, CAS associate dean; Dr. Lady Flor Partosa-Koenig, English and Literature Department chair and CWC coordinator; faculty members of the Filipino and Foreign Languages Department Asst. Prof. Ginalyn A. Orlina (Department chair), Asst. Prof. Leslie Jane D. Estrella, and Kathleen L. Gantalao; Moses Joshua B. Atega, International Students Office head; faculty members of the English and Literature Department; F Jordan Carnice, National Museum of the Philippines – Dumaguete researcher and former SUNWW fellow; and friends of the Silliman community.

The 62^nd Silliman University National Writers Workshop is supported by longtime sponsors, patrons, and friends of the Silliman community, including Macrina and Sande Fuentes, Hayahay Treehouse Bar owners; Maripaz Gonzales Montaño, Wuthering Heights Bed and Breakfast owner and manager; Jansen Tan, Adorno Café owner; Irma Faith B. Pal, Dumaguete MetroPost managing editor; National Museum of the Philippines – Dumaguete; Emilio Yoldi and Xenia Denise Bandivas, InPeace Foundation co-founders; Dr. Diomar C. Abrio, SU Culture and Arts Council (SUCAC) director; Dessa Quesada-Palm, Youth Advocates Through Theatre Arts (YATTA) founder; Andrea B. Alviola, SU Davao Cottage manager; SU Cafeteria; SU Library – American Spaces; and Christine Batiles, SU Anthropology Museum curator.

NOTE: All photos (except the SUNWW schedule) are taken by Dolrich Agraviador of the Silliman University Camera Club (SUCC).