Pupunta Ako sa UP National Writers Workshop...

...pero hindi bilang Fellow :P

Isa ako sa mga Staffer ng UPNWW 2009. Kasama ko sa Secretariat sina Butch Guerrero (head), Vic Nierva, at Eva Garcia-Cadiz. Si sir Rio Alma (Virgilio S. Almario) ang Workshop Director sa taong ito.

Heto ang opisyal naming press release (hindi updated ang unang lumabas sa Panitikan.com.ph):

Fellows of the 48th UP National Writers Workshop Announced

The University of the Philippines Institute of Creative Writing (UP ICW) announces the fellows to the 48th UP National Writers Workshop to be held from April 12 to 19 in Camp John Hay, Baguio City. The fellows and associates of the UP ICW selected twelve writers in mid-career to participate in the annual workshop. This year’s workshop director is National Artist for Literature Virgilio S. Almario.

This year’s fellows for English are Angelo Suarez and Carlomar Daoana for Poetry, Felisa H. Batacan and Francis Dean Alfar for fiction, and Criselda Yabes and Carljoe Javier for creative nonfiction.

Fellows for Filipino are Mikael Co and Ayer Arguelles for tula, Jing Panganiban and Vlad Gonzales for sanaysay, and Norman Wilwayco and Alvin Yapan for kuwento.

The workshop panelists are all advisers, fellows, and associates of the ICW. Aside from National Artist Almario, the panelists are National Artist for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera, ICW director Jose Dalisay, Jr., Gemino Abad, Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo, Neil Garcia, Charlson Ong, Conchitina Cruz, Jun Cruz Reyes, Victor Carmelo Nadera, Rolando Tolentino, Mario Miclat, and Romulo Baquiran, Jr.

Unlike most national writing workshops, the UP National Writers Workshop is only for advanced writers. The UP ICW is the only institution that holds a workshop of this kind in the country. The current workshop format was borne out of the need to address the dearth of venues for writers in mid-career to exchange ideas on their craft and their current literary projects.

Prior to the new format, the UP ICW has held the annual UP National Writers Workshop for the country’s most promising beginning writers since the 1960s. Through the years other writing centers of other universities have instituted their own workshops for beginning writers, thus freeing the UP ICW to address other concerns.

To qualify for the workshop, writers must satisfy the following requirements. (1) must be writers in English or Filipino; (2) must have attended at least one creative writing workshop (national/regional, including the UP National Writers’ Workshops), or earned a degree in Creative Writing/Malikhaing Pagsulat, or won at least one national/international literary award; (3) must have published at least three poems or two short stories or two pieces of creative nonfiction (e.g., essays, memoirs, profiles) in reputable collections or anthologies, journals, magazines (including campus publications), or refereed Internet web magazines, or have had a play staged.

The UP ICW is setting up a blog hub to keep the public abreast of the developments in the workshop. The hub will bring together blogs of the panelists, fellows, and staff. It will also contain more information on the workshop participants. The blog hub, which will soon be accessible, is accessible at http://upwritersworkshop09.tk.

Alas singko ng umaga bukas, Linggo, ang alis namin mula UP Diliman papuntang Baguio. Sa 19 ang uwi namin. Ikatlong balik ko 'to sa City of Pines sa loob ng walong buwan.

Bantayan niyo lang ang official blog hub ng UPNWW '09 (na pinaghirapan namin ni ser Vic). May wi-fi sa Igorot Lodge kaya magiging daily ang updates sa blog. Sisikapin ko ring maglagay dito sa aking Multiply ng ilang pics at balita.