A haven for writers

These past nine months, I’ve been shuttling between my teaching duties at the University of the Philippines and my work as the new director of that same university’s Institute of Creative Writing (ICW). The ICW started out more than 25 years ago as the Creative Writing Center (CWC), under the auspices of such literary stalwarts as Francisco Arcellana, Alejandrino Hufana, and Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio, all of whom subsequently became CWC directors.

The idea behind the CWC/ICW, then as now, was to provide a haven for creative writers within the university, where they could meet among themselves and initiate and implement programs to promote new Philippine writing not just within the campus but around the nation and to the world at large. It’s done that chiefly by conducting the UP National Writers Workshop every summer, by publishing Likhaan: The Journal of Contemporary Philippine Literature, and by holding lectures, performances, and seminars on Philippine literature for students, teachers, and the general public. The ICW also administers the Madrigal-Gonzalez First Book Award to encourage new authors in both English and Filipino.

Truth to tell, I didn’t want to be director, having more amusing things to do in mind, like playing poker and hunting for vintage Parker Vacumatics on eBay — and, yes, writing another novel or two in my spare time. But having been associated with the CWC/ICW since 1984, and practically having grown up (and big, and bald) in the place, I’d run out of excuses to avoid administrative work, I finally said yes last July.

As things turned out, it hasn’t been too bad. I believe in managing with a light hand, and with a little help from my BlackBerry, I can keep on top of things without being stuck to a swivel chair that threatens to keel over every time I threaten to relax and lean back too far. It’s a small office, with very few heads to watch over; we don’t have much of a budget, so I don’t need to curry favor with politicians (or maybe put that the other way: since I don’t curry favor with politicians, we don’t have much of a budget). I’m fortunate to have a capable deputy and a whiz-bang administrative officer, and between the two of them, 90 percent of our problems get taken care of before they even get to me.

Best of all, I share the company of some of our country’s and UP’s best writers. Membership in the ICW’s directorate — its board of fellows, associates, and advisers — is limited only to the most talented and most productive of university-based writers. To become a “fellow,” you’d need a minimum of five published books and a slew of awards — and the high regard of your peers; the requirements for the junior category of “associate” are only slightly less stringent. Some critics have called it a cabal, but I know that we disagree often and deeply enough among ourselves over matters of both style and substance to take that suggestion too seriously.

The current, active fellows of the ICW, aside from myself, are National Artist Virgilio Almario, Neil Garcia, Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo, Vim Nadera, Charlson Ong, Jun Cruz Reyes, and Roland Tolentino; our associates are Joey Baquiran, Conchitina Cruz, and Mario Miclat; and our advisers are National Artist Bienvenido Lumbera, Gemino Abad, and Amelia Lapeña Bonifacio. I’m especially happy to welcome Joey, Conchitina, and Mario into our ranks as our newest members; Mario brings decades of writing experience with him, but Joey and Chingbee (as we call her) represent the best of our new poetry in Filipino and English, respectively.

Next month, right after the Holy Week, most of us will be making the annual trek up to Baguio for the 48th UP National Writers Workshop to be held from April 12 to 19 at the Igorot Lodge in Camp John Hay. We’ll be there to talk shop for a week with 12 of the country’s brightest writing talents, now in their mid-career — past college, past their first workshops, and past (or very close to publishing) their first books.

This year, for Filipino, we’re bringing up Mikael Co and Ayer Arguelles for poetry, Jing Panganiban for creative nonfiction, and Norman Wilwayco, Vlad Gonzales, and Alvin Yapan for fiction. For English, we’ll be meeting with Angelo Suarez and Carlomar Daoana for poetry, Felisa Batacan and Dean Alfar for fiction, and Criselda Yabes and Carljoe Javier for creative nonfiction.

It’s a formidable batch, featuring some names already well known to the Filipino reader. Ichi Batacan, for example, has reenergized Pinoy crime fiction with her novel Smaller and Smaller Circles; now Singapore-based, she’s flying home just for the workshop. Kael Co is a bilingual wonder, winning Palanca first prizes for poetry in both English and Filipino one year after the other. Dean Alfar is acknowledged to be, well, the dean of Filipino speculative fiction. It should be a terrific workshop, where these fellows will be presenting their works-in-progress and talking about how and why they write.

While we’re on the business of the ICW, I should note that the third issue of the Likhaan Journal is now accepting entries for possible publication — short stories, poems, essays, creative nonfiction, and even the graphic novel. This issue’s editor is Jing Hidalgo, who will be backstopped by Roland Tolentino and Charlson Ong. The deadline in May 31. I’ll put out more details as the deadline approaches, but meanwhile you can look them up on http://www.panitikan.com.ph. Only unpublished material will be considered.

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And let me not forget to remind readers that the deadline for the 2009 Man Asian Literary Award for the best unpublished Asian novel in English is coming up very soon—next Tuesday, March 31. This year’s judges will be Gish Jen, Pankaj Mishra, and Colm Toibin. Last year, two Filipinos — Miguel Syjuco and Alfred Yuson — made it to the five-person shortlist, with the young Syjuco emerging the eventual winner. His novel Ilustrado has now been picked up by many prestigious publishers worldwide. Can the Pinoy perform a hat trick and make it to the finals three years in a row? For more information, go to http://www.manasianliteraryprize.org/2009/2009.php.

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E-mail me at penmanila@yahoo.com, and visit my blog at www.penmanila.net.