The IYAS Experience

Nonfiction by | July 10, 2011

It was an April Fools’ Day when I found out that I was accepted as a fellow to the 11th IYAS Creative Writing Workshop, and therefore, though I was jubilant, I felt a pang of doubt. It could just be a nasty prank! Thankfully, the organizers would later dispel this suspicion when they called me to ask for my confirmation.

I first heard of IYAS from my kababayan Paul Gumanao, who had already been a fellow the year before. Iyas, which is Hiligaynon for “seed,” is one of the National Writers Workshops in the Philippines. It is held annually for five days in the Balay Kalinungan of the Saint La Salle University in Bacolod. Though it is funded by the NCCA, the workshop has always enjoyed the support of several La Salle schools and the continued patronage of the Palanca Hall of Fame awardee Dr. Elsa M. Coscolluela.

The 11th workshop was to run from the 25th to the 29th of April, with a welcoming dinner on the 24th and a tour around the city on the 30th.

Continue reading The IYAS Experience

Two Haiku

Poetry by | July 10, 2011

Two chickens in a
jeepney, with their legs tied, in
silence they travel.

Two cats playing
in the middle of the road
their tails are cut.

–-
Angela Geun Hee Lee, originally from Korea, is a BS Education student at Ateneo de Davao University.

Putli and Gaitom

Fiction by | July 3, 2011

Putli the Carabao trots in the forest, proud of his big horns, his big body, and his pale skin. Along with him is Gaitom the Cow, timid as he was, with his tiny horns, his tiny body, and his dark skin.

Everyone in the forest wonders how two creatures so different get along with each other so well.

At noons they go to the lake in the middle of the forest, take off their skins, and freshen themselves up. Sometimes they walk the downhill path to the edge of the forest, where there is a farming village. Putli and Gaitom like to watch men till their big fields all by themselves. Putli often laughs at the men. Gaitom shushes him.

“It’s not right to laugh at men like that. They need help,” Gaitom says.

One day they reach the edge of the forest, farther than they had gone before. It is noon, and time for their dip in the lake.

Continue reading Putli and Gaitom

Shapeshifter

Poetry by | July 3, 2011

drink from a cup of bones
eat a pie of decay
bathe in dirt
breathe not fresh air
but poison

here
gods die
to become men

—
Margaux Denise Garcia is taking up BS Education at the Ateneo de Davao University.

Glutathione Identity

Poetry by | July 3, 2011

her skin is color is brown but she wants it to be white

white
like the color of the people in the land of honey and milk
home of the free and the brave.

white
she wants her color to be white
cause God favors the white

and so
she bleached her sun kissed brown skin
with expensive therapies and medicines

brown
her skin is color brown

brown
like the color of mud
like the color of her mood when she’s sad

brown skin
the color of third world citizens
she doesn’t like her brown skin
its history and what it represents
corruption and poverty
revolutions and slavery

but she has to know that
changing one’s skin
will never change what’s within

And that
     medication
     modernization
     globalization
will never alter the fact

that she is the daughter
of her brown skin forefathers

who fought hard
started a revolution
so she would have the freedom,
to bleach her brown skin

white

—
Shiela Mae Milla studies economics at the University of Southeastern Philippines.

The 1st Satur Apoyon Fiction-Writing Contest

Events by | June 29, 2011

The 1st Satur P. Apoyon Tigi sa Mubong Sugilanong Binisaya now open for submissions.

Fiction writers in Bisaya who are residents of Mindanao are invited to join the Satur P. Apoyon Tigi sa Mubong Sugilanong Binisaya. In the past two years, this contest was known as the Fiction Writing in Bisaya contest. This year, the Guild decided to rename the contest henceforth in honor of one of its founding members, Satur P. Apoyon, who recently passed away.

The deadline for submission is September 15, 2011. Cash prizes are as follows: first prize, P10,000.00; second prize, P7,000.00; third prize, P5,000.00.

Each contestant is allowed only one (1) entry. The story should be original (written by the contestant), unpublished (not printed in any newspaper, magazine or book), must not have won any awards. It must be printed between 10 to 20 pages in length (double-space, using Letter-size paper, using Times New Roman, 12pts). Participants are advised to comply with the instructions. Non-compliant entries will be automatically disqualified. A hard copy of the entry should be delivered to the following address: Rene Estremera, UP Mindanao, Mintal, Davao City 8022.

The envelope should contain the following: The contest entry; a separate sheet attesting to the authorship and no-publication/no-award of the work; and author’s complete contact information, signed by the author. A soft copy should be sent by email to davaowritersguild-at-yahoo-dot-com-dot-ph.

The criteria for judging are: Language (25%), Technique (25%), Relevance (25%), and Overall Impact (25%). Winners will be notified by cellphone and email.

The contest is a project of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the Davao Writers Guild.

Ang Gakit ni Noebong

Fiction by | June 12, 2011

In memory of Satur Apoyon (1935-2011), we are publishing the entirety of his short story Ang Gakit ni Noebong. This eponymous short story also bannered his collection of fiction which the Davao Writers Guild published in 2008.

Ang Gakit ni Noebong Satur ApoyonAng ulan ganinang hapon misamot pagbunok padulong sa tungang gabii. Ang tinabisak sa daw guang-guang nga mga lusok sa ulan maorag molusno sa bubongang kahoy ug kugon sa payag nga nag-umbaw sa tampi sa suba sa Sinuda. Ang kamaot sa panahon nakapabalaka ni Noebong, usa sa mga timawa nga amahan sa panimalay sa nagkapuo nga tribu sa mga Giyangan sa pag-utlan sa Dabaw ug Bukidnon.

Wala gayod mahimutang si Noebong sukad pa ganina sa ilang sayong panihapon. Nahinanok na lang ang bag-ong nanganak niyang asawa ug babayeng puya niini ug sa ilang kamagulangan nga si Kadong sa hagip-ot nga sibay nga binungbongan lamang sa panit sa kahoy ug sinawgan og linipak nga kawayan, apan si Noebong daw gianipay– mohigda ug mobangon matag karon ug unya. Wala siya mabalaka nga mosuyla ang baha sa suba, apan gikahadlokan niya ang buhawi nga simbako mohugpa sa liogan sa bungtod nga gitarokan sa ilang payag. Kon mahitabo kana, nabalaka si Nobeong nga ang iyang kapehan ug kamaisan ug ingon man ang ilang kabawng igdadaro, mga kanding, mga piso, sunoy ug himungaan mabanlas usab ngadto sa walogong bahin ubos sa ilang pinuy-anan.

Continue reading Ang Gakit ni Noebong

End

Poetry by | June 12, 2011

time, the music planets make,
a dance between silences,
overtures of consciousness,
a requiem of meteorites
past nocturnes of breaths,
supernovas prelude black holes
and the song ends with a breakdown:

a chaotic larghetto of stars
more numerous than grains of sand—

end of playlist, untoggled repeat

—
Darylle Rubino recently graduated cum laude from the University of the Philippines Mindanao with a degree in B.A. English, major in Creative Writing. He was a fellow at the 2011 Iyas Creative Writing Workshop held in Bacolod in May.