Poetry from across the SEA

MANILA, Philippines –  “Poetry is necessary. Poetry can change ideas, concepts, people  the world,” says poet Marjorie Evasco, the Philippine’s 2010 S.E.A. Write laureate. In February, she will again be recognized for her work with the 2011 Ani ng Dangal award given by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.  

Evasco received the S.E.A. Write award in November alongside fellow writers from South East Asia – Wijaya (Brunei Darussalam), Afrizal Malna (Indonesia), Dara Kanlaya (Laos), Zaen Kasturi (Malaysia), Johar Bin Buang (Singapore), Zakariya Amataya (Thailand), and Nguyen Nhat Anh (Vietnam).

“The past 31 years of Filipino awardees have strong shoulders on which I stand,” says Evasco, acknowledging her predecessors, some of which have been her mentors, including Edilberto Tiempo.

“It is a wonderful thing to say you are part of it, contributing to the body of Filipino literature,” she says.

A poet and professor at De La Salle University-Manila, Evasco has received National Book Awards for her books Dreamweavers, Ochre Tones: Poems in English and Cebuano, Six Women Poets: Inter/Views, A Life Shaped by Music, and Ani: The Life and Art of Hermogena Borja Lungay. She has also received prestigious writing fellowships and residencies. The S.E.A.Write award, she says, “is a recognition of the work that I’ve done in the last 35 years in writing.”

Marjorie Evasco receives a token from the Bangkok Bank.

The award, she adds, is “a continued benevolence. When poetry gives you gifts, it is always a bit more than what you deserve. I’ve worked hard, but this is grace.”

It was on the day of the awarding at the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok in Thailand that Evasco received the news that Ophelia Dimalanta, another former S.E.A. Write awardee, had passed away. As she reflected on this news, while gazing across the magnificent view of the Chao Phrya river, Evasco recalls asking the late poet for guidance as she went through the many rituals and strict protocol of the awarding, presided over by no less than Thailand’s Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn and Princess Srirasmi.

“I can imagine the award going on to 100 years or more,” says Evasco, noting the importance that the Thai government and the many generations of Thai royalty put in the value of literature and honoring the region’s writers. Evasco recalls with much delight the presence of the young son of the Royal Highnesses, Prince Dipangkorn Rasmijoti, the only one at the ceremony to constantly – and understandably – break protocol.

Evasco has only kind words for her fellow laureates, after discoursing with them on their poetics and hearing them read their works in poetry readings which were part of the S.E.A. Write awardees’ tour of Thailand.

She mentions, especially, Dara Kanlaya of Laos whose works, like many of Evasco’s, address the concerns of women. Incidentally, she and Evasco were the only two women writers receiving the award in 2010.

The awardees prepare for a special audience with the Royal Highnesses shortly before the awards ceremony (above).

Evasco also notes the year’s youngest laureate, Zakariya Amataya of southern Thailand. “His poetry is written with a modern discourse and style, while remaining deeply rooted in Thai tradition,” says Evasco, wishing that Filipino readers would be able to gain access to these writers’ works.

From her interaction with her fellow S.E.A. Write laureates, Evasco says she has realized even more the importance of learning each other’s languages and being translated, not only into English, but into the languages of other ASEAN countries.

“Other countries are assertive in bringing good literature into their own country, into their own language,” she observes.

“If translated into our own language, the works will be given new life… Readers can have access to new ideas in their own language,” she says, adding that this makes for a richer commerce of ideas and art.

It is this exchange of ideas that Evasco hopes will become a part of the Filipino writers’ milieu, especially when it comes to culture and literature of the ASEAN countries. Evasco adds, “I am proud to be part of the Southeast Asian culture. There is so much to be proud of.”

“You cannot write in a vacuum,” she says by way of advice, especially for younger writers. “Know your cultural context as Filipino, as part of the ASEAN, as part of the world.”

On her plans after receiving the S.E.A. Write awards, Evasco says, “You cannot stop there. Every time you win, it is not a signal to stop, but to serve better – to be deserving of poetry itself.”

She adds, “Do your work well. Hone your gift. If it is a poem, serve the poem. Pay attention to the word. Attend to it.”

Attending to the word has become Evasco’s life for the past 35 years, which she has dedicated to the pursuit of poetry.

In her two-minute speech given at the awards banquet, where she also read her poem Tigmo sa Dagat/Riddle of the Sea in both her native tongue and in English, Evasco said, “As the women in my family wove fragrant mats from pandan leaves, I weave poems with which I hope people recognize themselves, the value and joy of their humanity, and the good they can do individually and together.”