Tukar sa Kamingaw 

Poetry by | April 12, 2015

Gihidlaw ko sa mga lakaw nga way kapadulngan,
Ang atong mga tiil ug biste sa abog mapuno,
Tong adlaw nga niuban ko nimo–ikaw nga way ngalan–
Nangawagtang tanan nakong mga kasubo.
Gimingaw ko sa mga adlaw nga mapanganoron,
Aduna diay kalipay nga mahitabo ra kon magpiyong,
Samtang ako naminaw sa imong mga sugilanon.
Ang imong kamatuoran, sa mga atik mo ra mahuloganon.
Gapangandoy ko nga subayon ta sa ikaduhang higayon
Tong dalan nga gilakwan sa atong mga kalag.
Matag-gabii gahidlaw ako nga unta muanhi ka dayon,
Ug ilupad ko nimo ngadto sa mainitun mong salag.
Ikaw ang nawala nga nota niining hinanaling tukar
Unta mabatian nimo ning akong panghupaw.
Kon akong mga panaghoy imong mamatikdan
Anhia ko dinhi, manayaw ta sa tugtug sa kamingaw.

—
Cyrell is a psychosocial worker in a local NGO that helps young adolescent children in vulnerable situations. She is taking her Masters in Applied Social Research at Ateneo de Davao University. She paints and sketches, aside from writing fiction and poetry.

Prosesyon

Poetry by | April 5, 2015

Tag-init napud
Ang makasugakod
Mao ra ang poste
Gilansag ang mga kable
Nga naghawid sa atong mga atup
o liog sa balay
Dili makalingkawas
Daghan mokuyog
Bisan sa katagning sa init
Nabinat ang wire
Ang uban naloslos na
Hapdos og sakit
Tagbalay napugos mukuyog sa prosesyon
Kay walay katugwayan
Ang panimalay

—
Noy is an artist and an educator.

Between Pages

Poetry by | April 5, 2015

(for him, who breaks my heart without knowing it)

i press you–
like a leaf–
between the pages
of the book
i know
i will never
again
open.

—
Reil is a second year BSED-MATH student from Ateneo de Davao, and is ultimately in love with the Fibonacci Sequence.

The Talisman, Part 3

Fiction by | April 5, 2015

Continued from Part 1 and Part 2

One morning, Tefu saw the woman retching. As she bent over the sink, he noticed that her belly was unusually big. “Are you pregnant?” Tefu asked her.

“Yes, I am,” the woman said.

Tefu was filled with joy. “So you have stopped taking the pill. You have learned to love me, and you now want to bear my child.”

“What are you talking about? I have not slept with you for months. You have stopped wearing that nasty necklace of yours. You’re not the father of my child.”

Tefu was filled with rage. He raised his hand to hit her. She flinched. Slowly he lowered his hand. He could not bring himself to hurt her, and, it dawned on him, it wasn’t because he loved her. It was because she had never been worthy of his love. He had made a terrible mistake. Everything he had used the talisman for was not worth it.

Continue reading The Talisman, Part 3

The Talisman, Part 2

Fiction by | March 29, 2015

Continued from Part 1

Fedawdaw laughed aloud. “Yes, indeed. You are old enough to marry. More than old enough, in fact. The men your age here already has children. But, inga, you don’t need an ungit. You don’t look bad, and you are educated. You don’t need a talisman to attract a woman. I can even arrange a marriage for you. My friend Datu Kling has a beautiful daughter. She’s—”

“The woman I like lives in the city.”

Fedawdaw fell silent.

“She’s a Catholic,” Tefu added. “She also works for the bishop, but as a secretary.”

“Well, I’m not surprised if you want to marry a Catholic woman. You are a Catholic yourself. The priest who sent you to school baptized you, didn’t he? He even gave you a new name. He calls you Ma . . .”

“Mateo. That’s who I am now. It’s the name I use in Cotabato.”

“Of course, inga. I understand. You want to marry a city girl. You want someone like you.”

“I’m still not quite like her, Iboh. She’s a college graduate. I finished high school only. I’m just a driver. She’s higher than me. I don’t even have the courage to say hello to her.”

Continue reading The Talisman, Part 2

The Talisman, Part 1

Fiction by | March 22, 2015

Fedawdaw was overjoyed when Tefu, one of his sons, came home from the city. The Teduray huntsman prepared a feast. He asked his two wives to bring out and cook the salted meat that the family had been keeping. If consumed by the family alone, the meat could last for a fortnight, but because Fedawdaw invited the neighbors, in one sitting, the meat was demolished.

“Now, my dear husband, what are we going to eat tomorrow?” complained Amung, Fedawdaw’s first wife and Tefu’s stepmother. “I don’t see why you had to invite the whole inged. There is nothing special to celebrate.”

“Tefu is here,” Fedawdaw said. “That is special. I rarely see him, Amung. He is always busy with his work in Cotabato.”

“You always prepare a feast for him. When he finished studying in the Catholic school, you slaughtered a wild boar and two deer. But what do you do for your other sons? When Minted, who is your first son, was married, you butchered a boar, and only half of it was cooked for the occasion.”

“Stop griping, Amung. Tefu may not be my eldest or strongest child, but he is the most intelligent. He deserves to be honored by his father.”

“Oh, don’t tell me that, Fedawdaw. That’s simply not true. Mesila, your youngest son with me, is the most intelligent of your children. Mesila knows where to set traps in the forest, what the chirping of a temugen means, and when to plant crops based on the position of the stars.”

“But Mesila, Amung, doesn’t know how to read and write. He did not go to school. He doesn’t know how to drive a vehicle. Don’t compare him to Tefu. Tefu studied in Notre Dame High School, as a scholar of a priest, and he’s working in Cotabato now as the driver of the bishop. Don’t you know how important that job is? In the Catholic Church, the priest is the datu, and the bishop is the sultan.”

Continue reading The Talisman, Part 1

Announcing the Fellows for the 15th IYAS National Writers Workshop

Events by | March 22, 2015

The IYAS National Writers’ Workshop of the University of St. La Salle, Bacolod City, has selected 15 Fellows for 2015, out of 72 applicants nationwide.

The fellows for fiction (in English) are Deo Charis Mostrales and Arnel Murga; (in Filipino) Heidi Sarno; (in Hiligaynon) Meryl Panuncio; and (in Cebuano) Mechelle Centurias.

Fellows for drama in Filipino are Eljay Deldoc and Bernalyn Sastrillo.

The fellows for poetry (in English) are Catherine Regina Borlaza, Elijah Maria Pascual and Maria Camille Rivera; (in Filipino) Juleini Vivien Nicdao and Aldrin Pentero; (in Cebuano) Adonis Enricuso and Dave Pregoner; and (in Hiligaynon) Patrick Jay Pangilinan.

The IYAS Workshop Director is Dr. Marjorie Evasco and the panelists for this year are Ms. Grace Monte de Ramos-Arcellana, Mr. Glenn Mas, Mr. Danilo M. Reyes, Dr. Dinah Roma-Sianturi and Mr. John Iremil Teodoro. IYAS Founder and Project Director Dr. Elsie Coscolluela also sits in the panel.

This year, the visiting writer who will be in the panel is Tim Tomlinson of the Asian American Writers Workshop of New York City.

The IYAS National Writers’ Workshop is co-sponsored by the Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Center of De La Salle University and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and will be held on April 26 – May 2, 2015 at the Balay Kalinungan Complex of the University of St. La Salle, Bacolod City.

Announcing the Fellows for the 54th Silliman University National Writers Workshop

Events by | March 22, 2015

The 54th edition of the Silliman University National Writers Workshop is slated to start on 11 May 2015 at the Rose Lamb Sobrepeña Writers Village in Camp Look-out, Valencia, Negros Oriental.

Twelve writers from all over the Philippines have been accepted as regular workshop fellows.

The fellows for poetry are Aimee Paulette O. Cando of Quezon City (University of Santo Tomas), Angela Gabriele R. Fabunan of Olongapo City (University of the Philippines-Diliman), Darylle Luzarita Rubino of Polomolok, South Cotabato (University of the Philippines-Mindanao), and Mohammad Nassefh R. Macla of Davao City (University of the Philippines-Mindanao).

The fellows for fiction are Luis Manuel Diores of Cebu City (University of San Carlos), Patricia Corazon F. Lim of Quezon City (Ateneo de Manila University), Kristine Abelink Patenio of Murcia, Negros Occidental (University of St. La Salle in Bacolod), and Rodolfo Eduardo T. Santiago of Quezon City (Ateneo de Manila University).

The fellows for creative nonfiction are Jona Branzuela Bering of Cebu City (Cebu Normal University), Rowena Rose M. Lee of Manila (University of the Philippines in Mindanao), Miguel Antonio Lizada of Davao City (National University of Singapore), and Edmark Tejarcio Tan of Quezon City (University of Santo Tomas).

Khail Campos Santia of Malaybalay, Bukidnon (Silliman University) will join them as a special fellow for poetry. The names of other special fellows from around the Asia-Pacific region will be announced later.

Four alternates have also been chosen in case any of the regular fellows declines the invitation: Christian Jil R. Benitez of San Mateo, Rizal (Ateneo de Manila University) for poetry, Edmond Julian Y. Dela Cerna of Davao City (San Pedro College) and Matthew Jacob F. Ramos of Cebu City (Ateneo de Manila University) for fiction, and Fritzie D. Rodriguez of Balaga City, Bataan (University of the Philippines-Diliman) for creative nonfiction.

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 Edilberto K. Tiempo and National Artist Edith L. Tiempo, and was recently given the Tanging Parangal in the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining by the Cultural Center of the Philippines.