The National Commission for Culture and the Arts, FIT, UP Likhaan: Institute of Creative Writing and the Arts Council of Cebu Foundation, Inc. is proud to bring Pagpupugay: Pambansang Alagad ng Sining sa Literatura to Cebu as part of the 2008 Philippine Arts Month Celebration on Thursday, February 12, 2008 at 4:00 pm at the Mracelo B. Fernan Cebu Press Center, DECS Compound, Lahug, Cebu City..
Pagpupugay hopes to bring the people closer to National Artists for Literature through a series of lectures and conferences. Each living National Artist for Literature will have his or her own lecture covering the genre for which he/she is best known for. Aside from this, a production of the artist’s work will be staged during the said lecture.
This year, Cebuanos will be honored by the presence of Ms. Edith Tiempo, National Artist for Literature. Ms. Tiempo has won several awards from the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature: Tracts of Babylon and Other Poems, first prize, poetry in English, 1967; “The Black Monkey,” third prize, 1951, and “The Dam,” second prize, 1955, both in the short story in English category. Her novel, His Native Coast, won the grand prize in the CCP Literary Contest in 1978, while her short stories “Chamber of the Sea,” 1955, and “The Dimensions of Fear,” 1959, both won first prizes in the Philippine Free Press literary contest. She was a recipient of the Elizabeth Luce Moore Distinguished Asian Professor Award in 1978, L.T. Ruiz Professional Chair in English, 1981- 1989, and with her husband, the Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas Award from the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL), 1988. She was conferred National Artist for Literature in 1999.
Pagpupugay sa Pambansang Alagad ng Sining sa Literatura, is on its second year of promoting literature through lectures and performances is still one of the activities slated for this year’s Ani ng Sining or Philippine Arts Festival of the Literary Art Committee of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and is open to those who appreciate the literary arts. For more information, please call the Arts Council of Cebu office at 233-0452/233-0236 or email at artscouncilcebu @yahoo.com.