Ateneo de Davao University Writers Workshop 2012

Events by | May 17, 2012

Ateneo de Davao University will hold its AdDU Writers Workshop 2012 from May 21 to May 25 at the university’s Jacinto Campus. The workshop is designed to reach out to young writers of Davao City, help them grow in their craft, and lead them to publication in order to give voice to the Mindanao youth. While geared primarily to students of Ateneo de Davao, the workshop also brings in guests from other schools in Davao.

Panelists for the workshop are Dr. Ricardo M. de Ungria (UP-M), Dr. Macario Tiu (PWC), Prof. Jhoanna Lynn Cruz (UP-M), and Don Pagusara, all of the Davao Writers Guild. Workshop director is Dominique Gerald Cimafranca.

The fellows for the workshop are:

Carl Christian T. Agunod
Rosanna Aliviado
Madel Catre
Raizza Mae D. Cinco
Vincent Carlo Cuzon
Karen Kae F. Dicdican
Mary Caryl Dichosa
Alexandra Victoria A. Eñeco
Kristine Angelique O. Falgui
Alfedo Carlos Montecillo
Jamille Peliña
Benrich Baysa Tan
Gracielle Deanne B. Tubera

John Rey A. Aleria (UIC)
Peachy Cleo F. Dehino (UIC)
Armando Fenequito, Jr. (USEP)
Farah Aimee S. Virador (USEP)

Opening ceremonies for the workshop will be at 9:30AM on Monday, May 21, at F513 of the Finster Building of the Ateneo de Davao University. Mrs. Aida Rivera-Ford, founder of the Ford Academy of the Arts and former chair of the Humanities Division of Ateneo de Davao, will be the keynote speaker during the opening ceremonies.

The workshop is an annual event funded entirely by Ateneo de Davao University. It is held with the assistance of the Davao Writers Guild.

Epiphanies

Nonfiction by | January 15, 2012

Back in the time when I still traveled, I found myself in a business meeting in a small town outside of Nice in the South of France. The meeting lasted a few days, over which time I met colleagues from other parts of the world. That being my first (and so far, only) time in Europe, I decided to extend my stay for just one more day to see the sights that I could take in.

What can you do with just one extra day? If you’re along the main train lines in Europe, plenty. I headed down to the station, took a look at the map, readied my coins, and journeyed as far as I could to both ends of the line. On one terminal point was Cannes, the same city famed for its movie festival; on the other end was the small Italian city of Ventimiglia. In between was the city of Nice and…wait for it…the principality of Monaco.

With not much time to plan, I just went wherever the train and my feet took me. In that one day, I covered ampitheaters, plazas, roadside cafes, restaurants, museums, and churches.

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The Mysterious Last Journey of Satur Apoyon

Nonfiction by | October 16, 2011

Originally published in the Village Idiot Savant blog.

Satur Apoyon, veteran newsman and Bisaya fiction writer, went missing from his home in Bangkal, Davao City on the morning of Thursday, May 19, 2011. His body was found five days later on Tuesday, May 24, floating off the coast of Governor Generoso, Davao Oriental. Between where he started and where he ended was a distance of 70 km traversing water, or 150 km by the circuitous route over land.

How he got from here to there remains a mystery. What we do know from newspaper reports and recollections:

He left his house that morning at 5AM for his daily constitutional; when he didn’t return an hour later, his family texted friends and searched the neighborhood. A day of fruitless searching went by, and then another.

Rose Palacio, a former colleague of Satur’s at the Philippine News Agency, claimed that she had run into him at Victoria Plaza on Thursday afternoon, but she did not know that he was missing at that time. She kidded the usually well-dressed Satur about his slippers before she boarded her taxi. “O, Satur, nganong gi-dala man nimo imong sala dinhi?” she said. “Okay, okay,” he just answered with a vague smile.

That was the last anyone saw of Satur Apoyon alive.

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Fellows to the Davao Writers Workshop 2011

Events by | September 30, 2011

The Davao Writers Guild is pleased to announce the Fellows to the Davao Writers Workshop 2011. They are:

For Creative Nonfiction
Janesa Mariam Ladjiman
Jearvy Remollo-Lanohan
Aimee Rosal
Jocy So-Yeung

For Fiction
Ianne Angel Aquino
Jondy Arpilleda
Joseph Anthony Harold Dubouzet
Glorypearl Dy
Mikhail Tuboro
Vida Mia Valverde

For Poetry
Glyd Jun Aranes
Dennis Coronel (Bisaya)
Margaux Denice Garcia
Chris David Lao
Michael Marquez (Bisaya)

The Davao Writers Workshop 2011 will take place at Lispher Inn, Matina, Davao City from October 11 to 15. Panelists for the workshop are Macario Tiu, Antonino Soria de Veyra, Timothy Montes, John Bengan, and Januar Yap. Workshop Director is Jhoanna Lynn Cruz, assisted by Deputy Director Dominique Cimafranca. The workshop is sponsored by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and UP Mindanao.

Celebrating 30 years of TALA's Road Map Series

Events by | July 19, 2011

For 30 years now a Davao-based voice-in-the-wilderness publication has been the launching pad for and inspiration of many a young and aspiring artist. Join us on July 21, 2011, 6:00 P.M. – 83 issues later! – at Matina Town Square’s KANTO BAR as we celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the groundbreaking ROAD MAP SERIES (RMS).

Raise toasts and break bread with RMS Editor Tita Lacambra-Ayala. Meet your arts family-community and pitch in with impromptu readings and kuwentuhan. Catch up with the surreal Alaska-to-Arizona words of Lilia Lopez-Chua, RMS’ 1st featured artist (Vol. 1, No. 1), supported by Josie Tionko and Fe Del Rosario, RMS’ First Sponsors from whom came the seed money for RMS.

Early Bird Raffle! Each of the first 52 guests will have a chance to win one of 15 indescribable prizes.
To cap the evening, Mum Tita’s gem of-a-daughter Cynthia Alexander will do a 1-hour set at 9:00 p.m.! Transplanted Poet/Crush ng Bayan/Davao Writers Guild President Jhoanna Lynn Cruz (RMS Vol. 5 No. 2) emcees.
Please RSVP through Bopeep, cell # 0922-895-5851, email red_driver2002@yahoo.com so we know what the program might turn out to be.

Hope to see you again, exciting possibilities are at hand!

Tita Lacambra-Ayala
Editor

Book launch: "Best of Dagmay" and "Fractional Lives"

Editor's Note by | May 14, 2011

We will launch the Davao Writers Guild’s two latest books, “The Best of Dagmay” and “Fractional Lives” on May 28, 2011, Saturday, at 3:00PM at Ateneo de Davao University.

To indicate your participation in the book launch, please sign up at our confirmation page.

“Fractional Lives” is a collection of Margarita Marfori’s short fiction. The collection spans her writing career, dating back to her first published story in 1995 to new previously unpublished fiction. Marfori’s quiet, emotional stories reveal vulnerable characters struggling with alienation and personal anguish.

“The Best of Dagmay” is an anthology of the best works of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and drama appearing between 2007 and 2009 in Dagmay, the weekly literary journal of the Davao Writers Guild. Appearing as a weekly insert and online, Dagmay has published works from hundreds of Mindanao writers. This book compiles 97 pieces from 77 young authors. Below is the table of contents of “The Best of Dagmay”:

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The Curse of Fanfic

Nonfiction by | August 29, 2010

In what must have been a first for any writers workshop in the country, last summer’s Ateneo de Davao Writers Workshop featured stories from the genre of fanfic.  As the screener for the applications, I take responsibility for the ensuing misadventures; but I confess I also found much amusement in the resulting collision of cultures between the panel and the fellows.

Fanfic, if you’re not aware of the term, is short for fan fiction. Its writers take characters from juvenile books, TV series, video games, and anime, and cobble together new stories around them. Because of this lack of originality, the genre doesn’t get much respect. But because of the popularity of the source material, many young people gravitate to the genre, either as readers or writers.

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