Pistang Panitik 2007

PISTANG PANITIK 2007
The 28th Manila International Book Fair
World Trade Center

After the success of last year’s "Pistang Panitik," LIKHAAN: The U.P. Institute of Creative Writing, in partnership with the Book Development Association of the Philippines, Prime Trade Asia, Anvil Publishing, the National Book Development Board and Read Or Die, will mount "Pistang Panitik 2007" at the World Trade Center from August 30, 2007 to September 2, 2007 to coincide with the 28th Manila International Book Fair.

"Pistang Panitik" was conceived by UP ICW Director Vim Nadera as a literary festival where readers and writers alike can meet and greet. This year’s "Pistang Panitik" is much more ambitious as it spans over the 5 days of the Manila International Book Fair and will focus on the five living National Artists For Literature: Virgilio Almario, Bienvenido Lumbera, Alejandro Roces, F. Sionil Jose, and Edith Tiempo. It aims to re-introduce to contemporary audiences all their contributions to Philippine culture and the arts through commentaries by noted literary critics, performances by theatrical and poetry groups, and reader reactions.

Araw ni Bienvenido Lumbera
AUGUST 30 Function Room A 1:00-3:00 PM

KRITIKO: Dr. Roland Tolentino, Dr. Rod Nuncio, at Dr. Rosario Torres Yu
TAGAPAGTANGHAL: Bb. Susan Magno
MULA SA MAMBABASA: Kristin Mandigma & Marianne Suba


Araw ni Francisco Sionil Jose
AUGUST 31 Function Rm A 1:00-3:00 p.m.

KRITIKO: Dr. Neil Garcia, Dr. Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta at Prof. Ferdie Lopez
TAGAPAGTANGHAL: Under Siege
MULA SA MAMBABASA: Mia Sereno & Israel Realin


Araw ni Virgilio Almario
SEPTEMBER 1 Function Rm B1:00- 3:00 p.m.

KRITIKO: G. Roberto Añonuevo, Prof. Mike Coroza at G. Rogelio Mangahas
TAGAPAGTANGHAL: Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika, at Anyo
MULA SA MAMBABASA: Kristel Autencio, Renita Norada


Araw ni Alejandro Roces
SEPTEMBER 2 Function Rm A1:00- 5:00 p.m.

KRITIKO: Dr. Isagani Cruz, Prof. Lito Zulueta, at Prof. Danton Remoto
TAGAPAGTANGHAL: Alitaptap Storytellers Philippines
MULA SA MAMBABASA: Rachel Teng, Karen Inocencio & Paolo Cruz


Araw ni Edith Tiempo

KRITIKO: G. Alfred Yuson, Dr. Gemino Abad, Prof. Ralph Semino Galan
TAGAPAGTANGHAL: Ony Carcamo
MULA SA MAMBABASA: Pamela Punzalan & Mia Marci


Note: The revised version of "Articulations of Both Heart and Mind: The Love Poems of Edith L. Tiempo", the paper I read for this literary event will be published in the June 2008 issue of UNITAS, UST's scholarly publication for the arts and the sciences. Many thanks to John Jack Wigley, the Acting Director of the UST Publishing House, for believing in my capacity as a literary critic, albeit a fledging one.

Ubod New Authors Series

UBOD NEW AUTHORS SERIES

The National Commission for the Culture and the Arts (NCCA) through the National Committee on Literary Arts (NCLA) will formally launch the “Ubod New Authors Series,” which features 40 of Philippine literati’s newest gems, at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Main Lobby, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City, on Dec. 6 at 6 p.m.

The series consists of 50-page chapbooks (5½” x 8½”) of selected poems, fiction, creative nonfiction and drama in English, Filipino and other Philippine languages written by young and promising Filipino writers. Ubod is the Tagalog and Cebuano word for “heart extracted out of palm or bamboo.”

Presidential assistant on culture and NCCA executive director Cecile Guidote Alvarez, CCP vice president and artistic director Fernando C. Josef and NCLA head Joselito Zulueta will present the first copies of “Ubod” to the authors.

An overview of the series will be presented by Ricky de Ungria, UP Mindanao chancellor and former head of the NCLA from 1998 to 2001, when “Ubod” was first hatched.

There will also be remarks from Gemino Abad, general editor of “Ubod,” and Hermino Beltran, head of the CCP Office on Literature and former head of the NCLA from 2001 to 2004, during which “Ubod” started to be implemented.

The writers of the series are Sid Hildawa, Naya Valdellon, Gabriela Lee, Raul Moldez, Rosendo Makabali and Ralph Semino Galan for poetry in English; Joseph Salazar, Edgar Calabia Samar, Richard Gappi, Joselito de los Reyes, Joselyn Floresca, Enrico Torralba, Marieta Culibao, and Jema Pamintuan for poetry in Filipino; Santiago Villafania for poetry in Pangasinan; and Estellito Baylon Jacob for poetry in Bicolano.

The series also features Anna Felicia Sanchez, Peter Mayshle, Ian Casocot, Mildred Malaki and Arifa Jamil for fiction in English; Alwyn Aguirre, Vlademeir Gonzales, Alvin Yapan, Maricris Calilung and Ernesto Carandang Jr. for fiction in Filipino; Julio Belmes for fiction in Iluko; Januar Enero Yap for fiction in Cebuano; Genvieve Asenjo for fiction in Kinaray-a; and John Barrios for fiction in Aklanon.

Also included on the series are the works of Georgina Verdolaga and Maryanne Moll for creative nonfiction in English; Debbie Ann Tan, Christopher Gozum, and Liza Magtoto for drama in English; and Bay-viz Canleon, Edward Perez, Dennis Marasigan and Chris Martinez for drama in Filipino.


Note: This event happened almost three years ago, but since I am waxing nostalgic while creating this online archive of my life as a writer, I might as well include this press release as well as two pictures courtesy of Ian Casocot.

Ralph Semino Galan with Ian Casocot at the CCP Main Lobby.

Dalawang Tula Tungkol sa Baguio

ANG PAG-IBIG NG BAGUIO


Malamig ang pag-ibig ng Baguio
kasinlamig ng mga mata mo
O irog ko.
Ang mga mata mong
di nakatitig sa aking pag-iisa:
dalawang ilog na dumadaloy
patungo sa puso ng iba.

Nagiging yelo ang puso ko
dahil sa lamig ng labi mo
O mahal ko.
Tulad ng Baguio,
ang dampi ng iyong halik
ay kasinlamig ng habagat,
pinamamanhid ang aking balat.

Nakapatong sa mga balikat ko
ang mga nanlalamig na daliri mo
O sinta ko.
Ang mga daliri mong
kasinlamig at kasimbango
ng mga punungkahoy ng Baguio:
mga berdeng kandilang nakatirik

sa libingan ng aking pagnanasa
sa puntod ng aking pag-asa.


******************************************************

BAGYO NG ALAALA, ALAALA NG BAGUIO


Binabagyo ako ng mga alaala.

Amoy pine trees ang simoy ng hangin.

May nalimutan ba akong gawin
kaya’t ako ngayo’y inaabala
ng mga imahen?

Sarisaring simbolo ang gumagambala
sa puso ko’t diwa,
hinihiwa
nila ang aking damdamin,
gaya ng paghiwa ng mga Igorot
sa tigang na lupa
para malikha
ang Banaue
Rice
Terraces.

Ang isipan ko naman ay binubulabog
ng mga tunog ng kalikasan:
Ang mga kuliglig na kumakanta
ng kakaibang melodiya...
Ang mga ibon na humuhuni
sa Burnham Park ng aking guniguni...

Nararamdaman kong umiinit
ang aking katawan
nang ang iyong mukha sa aking isipan
ay nasilayan.
Ang iyong mukha
na nagpapatunaw sa ginaw
na dala ng bagyo ng alaala,
ng alaala ng Baguio...

Ano ba ang nagawa kong kasalanan
at ayaw akong iwanan
ng mga nagliliyab mong larawan?

Sumpa

SUMPA

If love is a yearning to be like (even to become)
the beloved, then hatred, it must be said,
can be engendered by the same ambition,
when it cannot be fulfilled.
-Salman Rushdie,
The Satanic Verses


Isinumpa kita:
Hindi ka liligaya sa piling ng iba
habang ako ay nag-iisa sa kama,
binabalutan ng kumot ng kalungkutan,
nakapatong ang ulo sa unan
ng pinakamalupit na pangungulila.

Isinumpa kita.
Sa kabilugan ng buwan,
nagsindi ako ng maitim na kandila
at ibinulong ko sa hangin
ang lihim na panalangin, ang orasyon
para sa mga mangingibig
na hindi marunong magmahal.

Isinumpa kita,
paulit-ulit --- umaga, tanghali, gabi ---
tuwing nakikita ko sa iba ang kaligayahan
na ipinagkait mo sa akin;
sa mga oras na naaalala ko
ang iyong maiinit na yakap at halik,
ang pitik ng iyong puso.

Isinumpa kita.
Ang pinakamabisang gayuma
ang ginamit ko laban sa iyo,
na walang iba kundi ang tindi
ng aking pag-ibig na binaliwala mo
at naging marubdob na poot ---

Isinumpa kita, dati kong sinisinta:
Hindi ka liligaya sa piling ng iba!

-Ralph Semino Galán

On a Boat to Puerto Galera

ON A BOAT TO PUERTO GALERA
(for Jun, Rommel and Donald)


the ship of fools
ferries us across the strait
that separates luzon
from the yearned for
shores of mindoro.

leaving our city lives
behind, we stand on deck
straining our eyes
against the glare of light
frolicking on water.

we sigh, imagining
the sand of white beach
crunching beneath
our feet, the sun bronzing
the skin of our backs.

passing by the islands
of verde and maricaban
we shiver, thinking
of the warm sea embracing
our bodies like a lover.

heaving with the heavy
cargo of our foolish
fantasies, we disembark thus
in puerto galera
way ahead of schedule,

long before our rusty galleon
has reached the safety of harbor.

Postcard Poem

POSTCARD POEM
(Maria Cristina Falls Reprise)


Picture-perfect,
I have seen your silent screams
tear across the pages
of my dreams. Two voices
streaming in unison
to some imaginary sea,
stopped short
by the edges of this paper
strengthened like a dam.


-Ralph Semino Galan

Islands and Icebergs

ISLANDS AND ICEBERGS
(Or, How to Read a Poem)


Imagine the paper
on which this poem is written
as an ocean.

Imagine these words
as either islands or icebergs
floating on the surface.

Imagine yourself
as an explorer, a cartographer
of heart and mind.

From the safety
of your imagination’s ship,
what do you see?

A mountain peak;
perhaps a ribbon of smoke
from an old volcano?

A drifting glacier;
a pair of polar bears frolicking
on thin ice?

You ask: Where
is the connection, the link
between each to each?

You ask: Must I hop
from this island to the next,
feeling after feeling?

Or must I move
from one iceberg to the other,
thought after thought?

And I answer,
take a deep breath and dive
into the dead calm.

Taste, feel, smell;
see what was once invisible
listen to the silence ---

Read again.


- Ralph Semino Galán

Fortune Telling at Ora Cafe

FORTUNE TELLING AT ORA CAFE


You arrive all alone
full of fear and apprehension
in this cafe that promises
to foretell your future, as if
your goddamn life with all
its complexities can be reduced
to a pack of cards, the twisting
path of your destiny as clear-cut
as a crystal ball, your strange fate
a text written in the stars.

And so the psychic-seer
reads the signs of your chosen
form of oracle, predicting events
that may or may not happen,
depending on how you see things
as they occur; the accuracy
of his third eye a matter yet
to be seen, his prophetic words
a cipher yet to be decoded
in the succeeding days to come.

But you believe him,
at this particular point in time
yes, you completely believe him:
the major and minor arcana,
the alignment of the planets;
so you leave this cafe with a sense
of certainty that disappears
the very next day, in the tumult
and turbulence of tomorrow's
unpredictable unfolding.


-Ralph Semino Galan

Magician

MAGICIAN


I wave my pen like a wand
and cast a spell to conjure images
of the past: the silk of your skin

I had touched a thousand times,
the impish smile in your eyes,
your firm thighs. Athame in hand,

I slash the veils of illusion
one by one, and stab my devoted
heart with the dagger of art.

I let the blood spill like music,
tears flowing like the solemn lyrics
of a dirge. I let everything go.

I remove my robes and remember
that the path to wholeness
is not in safety but in vulnerability.

Star-clad, I offer my wounds
to the universe, faith transforming
pain into poetry, suffering into song.


-Ralph Semino Galan

Virgin Labfest 4 Highlights

Stellar Roster of Artists in VIRGIN LABFEST 4 at the CCP
(June 25- July 6)



The Virgin Labfest 4, the most awaited theater festival in the country today, will be held once again at the Cultural Center of the Philippines from June 25 until July 6, 2008, with a stellar roster of writers, directors and actors headlining the performances of 18 one-act plays and staged readings of six other works. Now on its fourth year, the Virgin Labfest, has earned a solid reputation for its exciting and provocative line-up of "untried, untested, unpublished and unstaged" plays from playwrights both young and old. Complementing these are a workshop for high school students who wish to learn more about the craft of playwriting, a contest for owners of blogs (web logs or online journals), the launching of Ma-Yi Theater Company’s anthology Savage Stage, and a public interview with National Artist for Literature F. Sionil Jose by journalist Howie Severino.


FEATURED WRITERS

The line-up for Virgin Labfest 4 includes plays by National Artist F. Sionil Jose, award-winning playwrights Layeta Bucoy, Tim Dacanay, George de Jesus III, George Vail Kabristante, Allan Lopez, Job Pagsibigan, Floy Quintos, Debbie Tan, J. Dennis Teodosio and Argel Tuazon, as well as newcomers to the Festival such as Carlo Garcia, Anna Maria Gonzales, Jovi Miroy, Khavn de la Cruz and Malaysian writer Koh Jun Eiow.


DIRECTORS

Returning to direct the plays are Virgin Labfest “veterans” Jose Estrella, Njel de Mesa, George de Jesus III, Ana Valdez Lim, Nick Olanka Cats Racsag, Tuxqs Rutaquio, Roobak Valle, J. Victor Villareal and Toshiisa Yoshida, and festival first-timers Krystal Banzon, Jeff Camanag, Mayen Estañero, Hazel Gutierrez, Chris Millado, Floy Quintos, Paolo O’Hara and Leo Rialp. Rody Vera is the Festival’s Artistic Director.


ACTORS

Among the over one hundred actors participating in the performances and readings are Tommy Abuel, Irma Adlawan Marasigan, Kalila Aguilos, JK Anicoche, Lovely Balili, Ian Bautista, Riki Benedicto, MacDonnel Bolaños, Nonie Buencamino, Shamaine Buencamino, Tara Cabaero, Paolo Cabañero, Nar Cabico, Bong Cabrera, Kathlyn Castillo, Ricci Chan, Chrome Cosio, Dido de la Paz, Abner Delina, Anna Deroca, Bituin Escalante, Gigi Escalante, Mica Froilan, Bart Guingona, Jef-Henson Dy, Tess Jamias, Nanding Josef, Mailes Kanapi, Skyzx Labastilla, Monica Llamas, Russell Legaspi, Lorna Lopez, Clottie Lucero, Nicco Manalo, Missy Maramara, Juliene Mendoza, Wenah Nagales, Jerald Napoles, Madeleine Nicolas, Phil Noble, Peewee O’Hara, Gem Padilla, Joey Paras, Leo Ponseca, Cheryl Ramos, Arnold Reyes. Bembol Roco, Ness Roque, Amihan Ruiz, Tuxqs Rutaquio, Katherine Sabate, Carme Sanchez, Gilleth Sandico, Jonathan Tadioan, Noel Taylo, Joel Torre, Onyl Torres, Lou Veloso and Randy Villarama.


LINE-UP OF PLAYS

“This year, there will be five sets of one-act trilogies, each dealing with a central topic or unifying theme ranging from comedies to political commentaries to gender issues to ghost stories, and a program consisting of three productions from Virgin Labfest 3.” says Vera. One of these is a program especially geared for children, consisting of plays commissioned by the Philippine Board on Books for Young People, based on published children’s stories.


OTHER EVENTS

National Artist for Literature F. Sionil Jose will share his thoughts with Howie Severino in a forum titled “From Page to Stage: The Novelist in Front of the Footlights” on July 5.

Staged readings of six other “virgin” plays will also be presented every night from June 25 to 29. On July 3, there will be a reading of selected excerpts from Ma-Yi Theater Company’s anthology Savage Stage, most of which have been performed by the company.

The Labfest Blogfest offers active bloggers to win prizes. All they have to do is attend the first weekend performances and write a web blog or online journal within 48 hours after watching the program they saw. Winners will be chosen for each set of Labfest plays and receive gift certificates and other merchandise.

In the Virgin Labfest Lab, high-school students who are interested in theater and playwriting will be mentored throughout the festival by writer-director Njel de Mesa, after which the students are expected to write short plays to be presented in a staged reading on the last day of the Festival.

The Virgin Labfest 4 runs from June 25 to July 6 and is presented by the Writers Bloc and Tanghalang Pilipino with the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, in cooperation with Boysen Paints, Japan Foundation Manila Office, and Miss Mae Paner. For schedule and ticket inquiries, please call the CCP Box Office at 832-3704 or Ticketworld at National Bookstore branches at 891-9999.

15th Iligan National Writers Workshop

15th ILIGAN NATIONAL WRITERS WORKSHOP

The 15th Iligan National Writers workshop capped this year’s event with the Jimmy Y. Balacuit Awards to the following fellows:

FICTION:
First: Sara Jane Domingo Sebastian (Luzon, fiction, Filipino) -- "Amahinasyon"
Second: Efmer E. Agustin (Visayas-Cebuano) - "Kasayuran ug Borloloy"
Third: Samantha Echavez - (Luzon-Fiction English) " The Whore Fairy"

POETRY:
First: Erick Dasig Aguilar (Luzon- poetry Filipino) "Baseco, Baseco II, Baseco III"
Second: Leonilo P. Lopido( Visayas-Waray poetry) - "Pagliay-liay, Alugan, Hi Pititay"
Special Prize for Individual Poem - Nino Manaog (Visayas-English poem) -"Encanto"
Honorable Mention for Individual Poem - Luciano L. Abia (Visayas-Waray poem) - "Lagatob han dughan hin batan-on nga mangirisda"

The 1st Manuel Buenafe Writing Fellow Award was presented to Yakan fellow Marion Guerrero. This endowment named after poet-fictionist Buenafe who grew up in Lanao and later became UN-FAO representative is awarded by the Buenafe heirs to ensure an additional Mindanao slot in the competitive workshop. Next year, historian Ricardo Jorge Caluen will award his bursary.

Complementing the awards ceremonies during the closing program was the launch of Fire and Faith in Writing (Christine Godinez-Ortega, ed.), published proceedings of the workshop last year. [The Iligan workshop publishes its proceedings every year to document the creative writing process.]

The fellows also read their poems and those of last year’s in a concert entitled “Kape, Lipstik, ug Balak Gikan sa Malipayong Kinabuhi.“

Panelists include Ortega, the workshop director, keynote speaker Antonio Enriquez, Ralph Semino Galan, Victor Sugbo, Chari Cruz-Lucero, German Gervacio, Leo Deriada, and Steven P.C. Fernandez.

The Iligan workshop is one of three institutionalized national workshops in the country today. It is supported by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and conducted by the Mindanao Creative Writers Group, Inc. and the MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology Media --- of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Extension.

Note: This article was written by Steven P.C. Fernandez.

Naming the Trees

NAMING THE TREES
(Dumaguete City, May 1995)


Héloïse and Abélard ---
On the boulevard, we baptize
two acacia trees
by pressing our palms
on their ancient boles,
like wizened priests.

Héloïse, with her wimple
of leaves, lifts her branches
wildly to a cruel sky;
her virginity intact, the fruit
of her desire unpicked.

Abélard, in his castrated
glory, hides his shame
beneath the brown habit
of bark; his roots shaken,
his seeds unspread.

Héloïse and Abélard ---
On the boulevard, we name
two trees after the tragic
lovers of Medieval times,
secretly hoping not to repeat
the same sad fate.


- Ralph Semino Galan

Isabel Allende's First Three Novels

Naming the Spirits: Feminist Nomenclature
and Mythic Characterization
in the First Three Novels of Isabel Allende

by Ralph Semino Galán


“What’s in a name?” Juliet asks Romeo in their iconic balcony scene in Shakespeare’s famous romantic tragedy. Does it really matter? Is it really true that the flower “which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet?” The answer of course is no, since a name by itself determines a person’s identity and attributes, and oftentimes even his or her destiny, though sometimes in ironic or pastiche-like manner.

This paper is a semiotic-cum-socialist feminist analysis of Allende’s first three novels, namely The House of the Spirits, Of Love and Shadows and Eva Luna. The close reading undertaken by this researcher reveals that the nomenclature in the three long narratives functions as a rhetorical strategy to provide nominal signs to discerning readers regarding the scope of her egalitarian and humanitarian concerns. There are at least four levels of naming in the aforementioned Latin American tales that point out to female (and eventual male) liberation from the binary opposites that bind them together but paradoxically at the same time keep them apart: the title of the novel as the first semantic sign the reader encounters, storytelling itself as a form of naming, the subversion of the surname as a patriarchal tool of domination, and the use of first names to create feminist characters with mythic proportions as bearers of light, life and love.

Furthermore, this paper argues for the necessity to reassess and rename the members of South America’s literary canon in the light of Allende’s fictional achievements as a novelist who asserts that “It’s not a question of changing male chauvinism for militant feminism, but of giving both women and men a chance to become better people and to share the heavy burden of this planet.”

Honeymooning with Words

Honeymooning with Words

by Ralph Semino Galán


Love is a favorite subject among Filipino poets, regardless of gender. For despite the influx of modern and postmodern ideologies, the pervasive influence of the Romantic spirit is still prevalent in Philippine literature, especially in poetry. It therefore comes as no surprise that even a gay-identified writer like Danton Remoto has composed extensively verses expressing the intricacies of love and lust, desire and devotion, passion and compassion.

In his third book of poetry aptly titled Pulotgata: The Love Poems (Pasig City: Anvil Publishing, Inc, 2004, 88 pages), Remoto delves the depths of the human heart through lyrics in English and Filipino that sing of the anxiety and the excitement, the agony and the ecstasy which accompany the act of love.

The joy of loving and the consummation of desire are celebrated in the verses "Tonight I Will Live in Your Skin," inspired by Pablo Neruda's penultimate love poem in Veinte poemas de amor y una cancíon desesperada, "Water," "Fire and Ice," "Autumn," "Room," "Black Silk Pajamas," "Song of the Flute," "Destination," "Dawn," "The Seat of Love," "The Ring" and "Sky," among others.

On the other hand, the pain of parting and the power of memory to redeem those special moments, which otherwise would be lost to oblivion, are articulated in the following pieces: "Childhood," "Burning Season," "Chairs," "Snowstorm," "Departure," "Rain," "Stairway," "In Tagaytay," "Winter," "All the Clichés," "At Bellarmine" and "Song of Rumi."

The poems in Filipino, whether of the first or second persuasion, are more precise and direct, penetrating the heart of the matter with the sharpest of inquiries and insights: "ano kayang bitag/ ang itinatago ng buhay/ para sa akin?//" ["Pagdidilim 1."], "ibig maging buhangin/ upang masarayan// kahit minsan man lamang/ ng kanyang talampakan.// ["Baler, na Bayan Niya"], Pag-ibig ay tinig na tila sagwan/ humahati sa dagat ng kawalan./, ["Hindi Kinang ng Buwan"], "tinipong hininga ng mga mangingibig! ---/ at sandaling inisip/ ang karahasan ng pag-asa" ["Kabalyero"], "Ikaw,// na iniwan akong nag-iisa,/ walang kaibigan// o kasama,/ kundi mga wikang dayuhan// at paiba-iba.//" ["Wika"].

There is a seeming simplicity in Remoto's poetry in his choice of words and images. He does not employ verbal fireworks for effect and efficacy. Nor does he rely on arcane and orphic tropes that obfuscate the reader into believing that something profound is being revealed. Instead, he uses carefully selected metaphors and similes to convey his thoughts and feelings.

For Imagism has a very strong influence on Remoto's versifying, via Amygism (after Amy Lowell, who published the three-volume anthology Some Imagist Poets) and the Bagay poetry espoused by Rolando Tinio and company. A close reading of the poems will reveal that they conform to most of the guiding principles of Imagism/Amygism, "that poetry should render particulars exactly and not deal in vague generalities, however magnificent and sonorous," and that "concentration is of the very essence of poetry."

The image-making of Remoto is best described as elemental, evoking connections between the male body and the natural world, between powerful emotions and stark details of flora and fauna. Here are some prime examples: "My breath will begin by flowering/ in the caves of your ears.//" ["Tonight I Will Live in Your Skin"], "I will be the Falls of Dochart hurtling itself/ down the hills of Breadalbane,/ the rocks rumbling with my cascading force.// ["Water"], "Water slides down/ the leaves/ like tongue on skin" ["Rain"], "Swans skimmed the skin/ of your surface./" ["Winter"], "summer's thunder/ lighting up the sky/ oh heat thick/ as desire/" ["The Way We Live"], "My fingers brushing against/ the ferns in the mountain/ of your hair.//" ["Destination"], "your lips brushing// like a butterfly's wing/ against my lips./ ["Dawn"].

Among the poems in Filipino are the following: "Duhat na hinog ang mga mata ng gabi." ["Gabi"], "tila mga ibong hapo/ na humahapon sa pugad/ ng iyong puso.//" ["Kaarawan"], "Sa aming likuran,/ ang mga sanga/ ay nagiging kandila./ May talab/ ang kanilang lagablab.//" ["Ang Tawag"], "Matang may kubling// lungkot,/ mga salitang maigsi,/ manipis pa/ sa hugis-suklay na buwan.// ["Simula"], At ang iyong mga daliri'y/ naglalakbay, pumapasok,/ nawawala/ sa mga ulan ng aking buhok.// ["Pulotgata"].

There is also a sense of immediacy to Remoto's love lyrics, for almost all of the poems are written in the present or present perfect tense. Hence, the presence of the persona, the controlling consciousness, permeates the scene of each poem, the objective situation, even the spaces in between.

Another interesting feature of Remoto's poetry is its capacity to transcend traditional gender barriers, despite its homosexual underpinnings. Except for a few homoerotic pieces which some conservative readers might find rather offensive, most of the other poems are written in good taste, with the right amount of tenderness and tenacity of spirit.

Although a good number of the 57 poems in Pulotgata are reprinted from his two previous collections Skin Voices Faces and Black Silk Pajamas, the book is still worth buying, especially for die-hard romantics, since Remoto's love poems still remain fresh and clear and genuine, despite the passages of the years. For new readers, the book is a good introduction to the work of a highly accessible poet who writes proficiently both in English and Filipino.

My Fair Maladies

My Fair Maladies: Funny Essays and Poems on Various Ailments and Afflictions

Edited by Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo

Description: Almost everyone has suffered, at one time or the other, from some ailment, real or imagined. In true Pinoy fashion, we all cope by laughing about it, proving that laughter, indeed, is the best medicine. The 64 funny essays and poems in this book are all about the maladies that have afflicted some of the best writers in the country today—from a wandering eye to the big C, from an irrational fear of insects to a full-blown nervous breakdown. They are interspersed with nuggets of information on the illnesses.


Note: I have a poem in this anthology dedicated to Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, Virginia Woolf and Maningning Miclat, you get the drift? Hehehe!

A Crepuscular Scene

A CREPUSCULAR SCENE
(After a photograph by Al Dimalanta)


Watch the sun setting,
an overripe orange of light
sinking into the darkness

of the sea. Watch the ship
sailing to distant shores,
destinations and destinies

you can only dream of.
Watch the seconds slip by
like the wind whipping

your face. Watch and weep
for these transitive things
inevitably disappearing

before your bloodshot eyes.

For Maningning, Seven Years After

FOR MANINGNING, SEVEN YEARS AFTER
(September 29, 2007)


If I do it now, somersault
headfirst into the river of concrete
from the rooftop of the building

where I teach, will it create
a scene: a semi-abstract painting
of pain slightly obscene, face

distorted, body contorted, almost
Cubist, but with clots of red
darkening the impromptu canvas?

What lesson is there to learn
from the freefall of my leave-taking,
the picture perfect trajectory

of my utter failure to survive?
Will poet-friends revive me in songs
and elegies, words transforming

my rotting flesh into parable,
legend, myth? Or will I be forgotten
after the tabloid's rabid headline,

shame on my name, the anguish
I relish: a mad troubadour
plunging into inevitable oblivion

without your star's redeeming light?


Note: The late Maningning Miclat was a young and talented poet-painter of the Philippines. She had won many national and international prizes for her poems and paintings.

Virgin Labfest 4 Schedule of Shows

VIRGIN LABFEST 4 Schedule of Shows:


PLAYS
(Tanghalang Huseng Batute/ CCP Studio Theater)


VIRGIN LABFEST 3 REVISITED
June 25 (W) – 3PM/8PM / July 4 (F) – 8PM / July 5 (Sat) – 3PM

Njel de Mesa‘s Mga Obra ni Maestra
Directed by Njel de Mesa
Featuring Abby Gonzales, Nympha Gonzales and Cashlyn Cuarez

A hilarious and biting play about three young children with superpowers and are heavily conflicted between saving the world or fulfilling the grueling, tedious domestic duties that their parents have ordered them to do.


Layeta Bucoy‘s Ellas Inocentes
Directed by Tuxqs Rutaquio
Featuring Janessa Roque and Lovely Balili

Two sisters, whose innocent conversation and unmalicious observations of a household not quite their own, reveals the violence and inhumanity of the adults around them.


Yoji Sakate‘s Three Sisters
Directed by Jose Estrella
Featuring Mailes Kanapi, Marj Lorico, Cheryl Ramos, Bong Cabrera, Joel Garcia and Lowell Conales

A moving ghost story and a touching memorial to the ravages of war and the significant resonance of war in theater.


* * PROGRAM 1 * *
KAPAMILYA, KAPUSO, KABISYO
June 26 (TH) – 3PM/8PM / July 5 (SAT) – 8PM / July 6 (SUN) – 3PM

Hase Hiroichi’s Amoy ng Langit
Directed by Toshiisa Yoshida
Featuring Mailes Kanapi, Martha Comia, Ana Deroca,Mica Froilan and Tara Cabaero

Ghosts are known to roam the world of the living because of unfinished business. This small and simple play about suicide, leaving and death happens on the rooftop of a school where no one is allowed to loiter. Yet a spirit manages to reconnect before finally heading “home.”


Layeta Bucoy’s Las Mentiras de Gloria
Directed by Tuxqs Rutaquio
Featuring Bart Guingona and May Bayot

Gloria, whose cancer kills her, appeals to her fraternal twin Utoy, to whom she appears as a bleeding ghost, to maintain the lies that she has been spreading to her faculty colleagues in the university. Utoy is compelled to obey by forced guilt and a macabre 'umbilical' connection. But beneath these secrets and lies are more secrets and lies and it seems the death of Gloria, no matter how sanitized, would only leak their foul stench even more.


Carlo Garcia’s Ang Mga Halimaw
Directed by Paolo O'Hara
Featuring JK Anicoche, Amihan Ruiz, Kristine Balmes, Alvin Obillo, Nar Cabico, Isab Martinez, Mara Marasigan,Philip Evangelista and Oscar Garcia and the Dulaang Sipat Lawin

Small time criminals think big like their bosses. In this car scene, drama effectively unfolds with strange bedfellows for characters and a wonderful poetic wit that speaks the language of the damned. These murderers, who include an Operadang Bakla, a Taxi Drayber and a Lalaking May Pakpak make for one short glimpse of surreo-realism.


* * PROGRAM 2 * *
KATOTOHANAN, KATARUNGAN, KAPATIRAN
June 27 (F) – 3PM/8PM / July 2 (W) – 3PM / July 6 (SUN) – 8PM

F. Sionil Jose’s Dong-Ao
Translated by Rody Vera
Directed by Chris Millado
Featuring Carme Sanchez, Nanding Josef, Tommy Abuel, Bembol Roco, Dido de la Paz, Gigi Escalante and Monica Llamas

Dong-ao is a traditional Ilokano funeral ceremony where relatives and friends pay tribute to the deceased. In this short play, Pepe Samson, the lead character in F. Sionil Jose’s novel Mass is dead. Several characters speak in front of his coffin, before he is laid to rest: Senator Reyes, Pepe’s Aunt Bettina, his college professor-mentor Badong Hortenso, his parish priest friend Father Jess, Colonel White Sidewall, and an old woman Tia Nena who served in the parish where Pepe once stayed. The divergent views uttered by the characters depict a fragmented nation, teetering between complete collapse and newfound hope and direction.


Allan Lopez’s Masaganang Ekonomiya
Directed by J. Victor Villareal
Featuring Katherine Sabate and Abner Delina

Framed by an unfinished game of chess between Vera, a highly decorated military
officer, and Guzman, an esteemed activist, the play unfolds as an interrogation of Gomez, a younger militant. In layered scenes that shift from intense examinations to harrowing scenes of humor, budding fascism, and brutish attacks on human sensibility, ‘Masaganang Ekonomiya’ offers an emasculated contemporary look on the age-old conflict between the establishment and the insurgents, in the context of a globalization- obsessed nation.


Tim Dacanay‘s Pamantasang Hirang
Directed by Hazel Gutierez
Featuring Jonathan Tadioan, Ian Bautista, Nicco Manalo, Ryan Guzman, Nicole Andrew Guila, Russell Legaspi, Alexis Dorola, Jay del Rosario, Jonathan Cabrera and Jacqueline Amper.

At a fraternity initiation in the state university, ambitious Congressman Chok Villanueva, an alumnus interfering with the proceedings, uses everything at his disposal to win back his friend, Dan, an advertising man who went back to the university to revive his literary talents. No institution is sacred, and everything is subverted, as persuasion fails and spirals downward to an orgy of brutality and excess.


* * PROGRAM 3 * *
PAGBABAGO, PAGHAHANAP, PAGKAKATAON
June 28 (SAT) – 3PM/8PM / July 2 (W) – 8PM / July 3 (TH) – 3PM

George Vail Kabristante’s Ang Kuwento ng Menginga ng New York City na Kamukha ng Bee-Stung Lips ni Julia Roberts
Directed by George de Jesus III
Featuring Ricci Chan, Jojo Riguera, Xeno Alejandro, Jef-Henson Dee and Gem Padilla

Denise fulfills the almost impossible condition given him by Victor, his sole object of obsession. He undergoes a sex change operation hoping that Victor’s promise of love will finally be requited. To Denise’s utter dismay, the condition turns out to be a half-forgotten joke. This melodramatic (and literal) reversal of fortune becomes black hilarity in the hands of George Kabristante. More like his reprise and variation on a theme that he started in last year’s Labfest, My Padir is an OCW.


J. Dennis C. Teodosio’s Gumamela
Directed by Roobak Valle
Featuring Phil Noble, Chrome Cosio,, Riki Benedicto and Russell Legaspi

"Gumamela" is more than just about hibiscus rosa sinensis or its botanical characteristics and pharmacological effects. It tells the bitter-sweet- campy story of man who contemplates what's there in 40 missed calls, in 40 minutes of waiting, and in 40 years of loneliness, love, and life, between serious bouts of suicide attempts and the desire to eat a sumptuous slice of chocolate cake.


Rogelio Braga’s Ang Bayot, Ang Meranao,at ang Habal Habal sa isang Nakababagot na Paghihintay sa Kanto ng Lanao del Norte
Directed by Nick Olanka
Featuring Joey Paras and Arnold Reyes

An unusual rendezvous of two beautiful and sharp-tongue outspoken creatures living at the margins of our society. Take a peak on their engagement as they courageously travel— devoid of any inhibitions, political correctness, and social graces—that rough and ‘older than history’ roads of discrimination, hypocrisy, bigotry, social divides, corruption and unspoken violence to arrive in a decent friendship. The play is a bitter yet funky peppered with a Radio Active Sago Project kick-ass take on the cruelties of our society that condones discrimination which is definitely not so cool.


* * PROGRAM 4 * *
PAGKAGAHAMAN, PANLILINLANG, PANANAMPALATAYA
June 29 (SUN) – 3PM/9PM / July 3 (TH) – 8PM / July 4 (F) – 3PM

Floy Quintos’ Ang Kalungkutan ng mga Reyna
Directed by Floy Quintos
Featuring Shamaine Buencamino, Tuxqs Rutaquio, Nar Cabico, Jonathan Tadioan, Riki Benedicto and Jerald Napoles

Megalomania is witnessed by Marcel, a hairdresser who accedes to the leader of the land’s Yolanda Cadiz. The empty, vacuous preoccupation with hair and beauty is after all, the most important ingredient to governance. The elegance of decadence and its inevitable slide into self-destruction introduces one of this year’s Labfest’s most endearing/terrifying characters.


Debbie Ann Tan’s Mga Babaeng Too Bright
Directed by Ana Valdez-Lim
Featuring Peewee O'Hara, Mailes Kanapi, Kathlyn Castillo, Charissa Litton and Wenah Nagales

To settle who among the two is stronger in a woman, Harmony and Discord was given a scenario where their counterparts Ms. Ferra and Georgia Oh influence the lives of Porcelaine and Virni. Porcelaine is an egoistic woman who got a Toobright Scholarship. Virni is a manipulator, but when she met Porcelaine, they somehow agreed on what constitutes art. The interplay of the women and the "Goddesses" results in a battle where no one is the winner and the loser. The
politics of women are hard to define, they can betray each other and they can come together. In this world of faux art, what is real and what is unreal?


Koh Jun Eiow’s Ang Dalawa Niyang Libing
Translated by Terrence Co
Directed by Leo Rialp
Featuring Noel Taylo, Billy Parjan, Tina de Guzman,Sherwin Sozon, Mc Do Bolanos, Alexis Dorola, Jeffrey Ramos, Jorge Walter Ladera, Paul Domine, Cara Mercado and Ailen Mojica

This play is based on a true story that happened in Malaysia. An old Malaysian- Chinese businessman dies leaving his wife and son the beginning of their troubles. In the middle of funeral, following the traditional Chinese ceremony, two Muslims come to claim the body of their brother Muslim insisting that the dead man should be buried in proper Muslim cemetery. They have proof that the deceased Lin Shunfu has converted to Islam. His official I.D. bears the name of a Muslim. Thus begins the travails of a family caught in between two faiths and a government unable to address the problem that has turned into a national issue.



MGA PREMYADONG KUWENTONG PAMBATA
July 5 (S) – 10AM/3PM / July 6 (SUN) – 10AM/3PM
(Bulwagang Amado Hernandez)


Njel de Mesa’s adaptation of Terangati by Victoria Anonuevo
Directed by Njel de Mesa
Featuring Bong Cabrera, Nar Cabico and the Koine Theater Foundation

This is a retelling of the Manobo version of the sky maiden who marries a mortal lad. Terengati, the protagonist whose name means bird hunter, does exactly that – he hunts birds for a living. Like other folktales, this story is rich in fantasy and has a touch of romance. Terengati’s search for his wife is as an adventure that may be hard to believe but its resolution is realistic and is drawn from actual family experience.


Argel Tuazon’s adaptation of Bru-ha-ha-ha- ha-ha, Bru-hi-hi-hi- hi-hi by Ma. Corazon Remigio
Directed by Mayen Estañero
Featuring Eric Sindol, Kat Castillo, Nicco Manalo and Bea Sara Angoba

Maggie is terrified whenever she sees Mrs. Magalit, an old woman who lives by herself. She laughs like a witch and surely acts like a witch. Her face is wrinkled and looks oh so frightening. And the way she laughs, sends chills down Maggie's spine. But is Maggie just imagining things, or is Mrs. Magalit a real terrible witch?


Job Pagsibigan’s adaptation of Uuwi na ang Nanay Kong si Darna by Edgar Samar
Directed by Catherine Racsag
Featuring Tess Jamias, Paolo Cabañero, Ian Lomongo, Vanessa Liwanag and MarkGil Bacea.



STAGED READINGS
(Bulwagang Amado Hernandez)


June 26 (Th) – 6: 30 P.M.
Jovi Miroy’s Billboard
Directed by Chris Millado

Lovers and loveseekers come together in La Luz Beach resort, unwittingly giving dramatic rendition to Plato's Symposium and his discourses on love.


June 27 (F) - 6:30 P.M.
George de Jesus III's Kung Paano Maghiwalay
Directed by George de Jesus III

The myriad variations of breaking up is presented here like a symphony divided into rippling movements; a tribute to the loss of love and the painful confrontations to truth.


June 28 (S) – 6: 30 P.M.
Khavn de la Cruz’s Newtopia
Directed by Khavn de la Cruz

It is 2084. A couple, Bernard and Julia, struggle to fight for freedom, privacy, love and even Unhappiness against this pseudo-perfect society controlled by Mr. Big Boy in Khavn' de la Cruz's anti-rock opera.


June 29 (Sun) – 6:30 P.M.
Carlo Garcia’s Ama Namin
Directed by Krystal Banzon

Daniel and Joseph reverses the classic Odysseus tale into a battle of wits and guts, revealing the horrible face of corruption in the course of this compressed drama between father and son.

J. Dennis Teodosio’s Asunto
Directed by Dennis Marasigan

Brando and George, a rather odd couple, confront a two-faced swindler and learn a thing or two about truth and justice in the Philippines .

Ogie Braga’s Ang Mga Mananahi

The soft-spoken, otherwise silent weavers of uniforms for the Moro rebels produce not only clothes for their warriors but subtle ideologies for freedom and dignity.


July 3 (Th) – 6:30 P.M.
Excerpts from Savage Stage
Directed by Ralph Peña
Featuring Nonie Buencamino, Shamaine Buencamino, Red Concepcion, JD De Guzman, JJ Ignacio, Irma Adlawan Marasigan, Joel Torre

Selected excerpts from four plays, three of which are included in Ma-Yi Theater Company’s anthology, Savage Stage, edited by Joi Barrios Leblanc: Project Balanggiga by Sung Rno and Ralph Peña, peregriNasyon by Chris Millado and Middle Finger by Han Ong. The fourth play takes scenes from Ma-Yi’s upcoming production of Ralph Peña’s new play Nebraska which will premiere in New York in 2009.

The Milflores Guide to Philippine Shopping Malls

The Milflores Guide to Philippine Shopping Malls

Edited by Antonio A. Hidalgo


This extraordinary guide book to Philippine shopping malls has informative and entertaining essays by 27 of the best writers in the country on 35 malls nationwide. It is must reading for all:


Wise shoppers desiring the best bargains in town;

New mallers venturing forth into the world of malling;

Mallers curious about other malls;

Mallers wanting to see the larger picture of malling;

Local travelers going to out-of-town malls;

Tourists wishing to experience Philippine shopping malls; and

Lovers of good writing



Note: I have two essays included in this book.

An Anthology of New Voices in Philippine Poetry

Crowns and Oranges: An Anthology of New Voices in Philippine Poetry

edited by Cirilo F. Bautista and Ken T. Ishikawa

Contributors included in the book:

Anina Abola, Alex Agena, Arnold Aldaba, Mark Angeles, Marthy Angue, Glenn Vincent Atanacio, Imelda Morales Aznar, Michael Balili, Javier Bengzon, Anna Bernaldo-Romulo, Marie Bismonte, Raymond Calbay, Catherine Candano, Karen Ann Capco, Jennifer Cariño, Mark Cayanan, Jose Jason Chancoco, Mikael de Lara Co, Michelle Camille Correa, Keith Cortez, Vincent Coscolluela, Jonathan Davila, Raymond John A. de Borja, Anjeline de Dios, Rodrigo V. Dela Peña, Ruel De Vera, Frederic Dimzon, Mervin Joseph Espina, Ralph Semino Galan, EJ Galang, Liwanag Jethro Jose Gallaga, Frances Maureen Giron, Ramil Digal Gulle, Mark Frederik Gumban, Carljoe Javier, Ana Maria Katigbak, Arkaye Kierful, Marie La Viña, Gabriela Lee, Carlos Luz, Paolo Manalo, Mayo Uno Martin, Samantha Martiñez, Melvin Medes, Alessandra Rose Miguel, Raul Moldez, JR Moll, Michael Morco, Ana Escalante Neri, Victor Dennis T. Nierva, Rodellen Paccial, Clarisse Fuschia Paderna, Haidee Palapar, Bj A. Patiño, Ned Parfan, Allan Pastrana, Noelle Pico, J. Lorenz Poquiz, Gerald Feljandro Ramos, José Edmundo Ocampo Reyes, Jun de la Rosa, Romel Samson, Raphael Doval-Santos, Michellan Sarile, Joseph Saguid, Angelo Suarez, Andrea Teran, Joel Toledo, Marvi Torres, Czeriza Shennille S. Valencia, Michelle Varron, Santiago B. Villafania and Lawrence Lacambra Ypil

PEN Philippines 2007 Poetry Anthology

At Home In Unhomeliness: An Anthology of Philippine Postcolonial Poetry in English

Editor: J. Neil Garcia

Featuring 82 poems by 29 of the Philippines’ best young poets in English.
From the Introduction: By subtitling this collection “An Anthology of Philippine Postcolonial Poetry, this is precisely what I wish to editorially endorse, what I wish the prospective reader (local or translocal) to remember, what I intend to announce at the outset: these poems, like the rest of Philippine literature in English, will in fact be largely incomprehensible when decontextualized from the histories that engendered them–particularly the violent histories of colonization that the Philippines, as a geopolitical and indeed national reality, has endured.

Michael Balili
Ronald Baytan
Catherine Candano
Jose Wendell Capili
Jennifer Patricia Carino
Mark Anthony Cayanan
Mikael de Lara Co
Conchitina Cruz
Carlomar Arcangel Daoana
Raymond John de Borja
Cecille La Verne de la Cruz
Lourd Ernest de Veyra
Israfel Fagela
Marc Gaba
Ralph Semino Galan
Ramil Dagal Gulle
Sid Gomez Hildawa
Joy Icayan
Mookie Katigbak
Kris Lacaba
Paolo Manalo
Arvin Abejo Mangohig
Allan Pastrana
Dinah Roma-Sianturi
Rafael San Diego
Michelle Sarile
Angelo V. Suarez
Joel Toledo
Lawrence Lacambra Ypil

The Southern Cross

THE SOUTHERN CROSS


Four stars transfix my fate
like a miraculous medal.
It is up there for me to see:
a crucifix. Around it,
a scapular of stars.

Like Christ, I too must bear
a cross: a plastic cross
around my neck, across my soul.
Beads of sweat and prayers
dangling like rosaries

And each time I stargaze
light pierces my hands, my feet:
like a stigmatist.
And then I bleed, profusely,
Red and lovely like a rose.

Southern saints are crucified
in this part of the southern sky.

Help Save Mother Nature

Two Tinago Falls poems

Tinago Falls
(Buru-un, Iligan City)


Hidden, like everything beautiful
is this waterfall. In the heart
of this forest, she is here:
cascading gracefully like a lady,
virginal, the lacy drop
a veil covering her face
in myth and mystery.

I have combed her hair,
a leafy crown of emeralds,
to witness her majesty
as she free-falls forever
from the deep ravine of discovery
to the calm, collected waters
in the ice-cold basin
of memory.


Tinago Falls II
(for Ted and King)


clinging to cliffwalls
are the vines of our destinies:
tiny tines, shaped
like fingers, tenaciously
grasping granite rock.

the cascades of our passions
are laced with fear,
dropping whitely, like sheets
of silk, covering
our secrets and desires.

hovering over the azure pool
of our impure delights,
deceitful dragonflies like men
are urging us to swim
in the shimmering skin of sin.