LIRA, NCCA to Teach Poetry for Free in the Provinces

Ang press release namin para sa matagal nang inaabangang STS 2010:

LIRA, NCCA to Teach Poetry for Free in the Provinces

The Filipino poetry group Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika, at Anyo (LIRA) and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) will launch the “Sining ng Tugma at Sukat (STS; Art of Rhyme and Meter) 2010” with the first leg in San Fabian, Pangasinan on March 6, 2010.

The STS is a series of free seminar-workshops on poetry in Filipino, to be held in nine towns across nine provinces of Luzon from March to December 2010. Teachers of Filipino from public high schools are the intended beneficiaries, with LIRA and the NCCA’s local partners determining the composition of each town’s delegates.

The STS is on its second year, with the first edition being held in 2008. In that year, LIRA and the NCCA taught poetry to around 430 delegates in ten towns across Luzon, namely General Trias, Cavite; Dagupan City, Pangasinan; City of Manila; Mauban, Quezon; Subic, Zambales; Taguig City; Quezon City; Pasig City; Angono, Rizal; and Sta. Cruz, Zambales.

This year’s first beneficiary is San Fabian, Pangasinan, with the local government unit and the San Fabian National High School serving as hosts. Prof. Michael M. Coroza of LIRA and Ateneo de Manila University will be the lecturer.

The other, tentative, beneficiaries of STS 2010 are Baguio City, Benguet; Sagada, Mountain Province; Vigan City, Ilocos Sur; Lucban, Quezon; Bataan province; the Bicol region; San Antonio, Zambales; and Tuguegarao City, Cagayan. Once confirmed, STS local partners will contact the public high school teachers in Filipino from these areas.

The STS 2010 is one of the fifteen projects for LIRA’s year-long 25th anniversary celebrations. Founded in 1985 by the National Artist for Literature Virgilio S. Almario (alias Rio Alma), LIRA is the premier institute of poets in Filipino. In pursuance of its mission of enriching and promoting Filipino poetry, the organization holds a yearly five-month-long poetry clinic held for the most part in UP Diliman. The STS 2010 is an effort to bring part of this clinic outside of Metro Manila.

The project directors are Phillip Kimpo Jr., president of LIRA, and Beverly W. Siy, immediate former president and creator of the STS. The overall project coordinators are Mariane A.R.T. Abuan and Deborah Rosalind D. Nieto. To contact the STS team, email them at pamunuan@liraonline.org.

* * * End of press release * * *

Excited na ako.

Noong 2008, isa ako sa mga aktibo sa pagdala ng STS sa mga lalawigan bilang overall project coordinator nito. Pinalad ang LIRA ngayong taon na maaprubahan ang NCCA grant request, kaya heto, round 2 na, at mas malaki na ang challenge sa akin bilang project director.

Magaganda ang alaala ko ng STS 2008, kung saan personal akong nakapunta at tumulong sa STS Dagupan, STS Mauban, STS Subic, at STS Sta. Cruz (di ko pa naaupload ang pics!). Nakakastress pero rewarding ang magturo...at masaya ang mga excursion before & after the event hehe (siempre sariling gastos namin yun, o kaya'y may local sponsor). Kaya naman kinarir ko ang proposal ng LIRA sa NCCA last year.

Gaya ng nakalagay sa PR, sisimulan namin ang STS sa San Fabian, Pangasinan. (Huli akong nakapunta dito noong nag-beach workshop slash videoke kaming Dapitdilim writers, bago ang STS Dagupan noong 2008.) Ang programme ng event:

Sabado madaling araw kami babiyahe pa-norte; Linggo ng gabi naman ang aming balik. Bago ko makalimutan, di magiging kumpleto ang post na 'to kung di ko pasasalamatan ang naunang Pangulo ng LIRA sa akin, si Beverly Siy, na siyang nagsimula ng lahat ng stress na 'to noong nilikha at ipinatupad niya ang konsepto ng STS, hahahaha. Salamat miss Bebang!


*Gawa pala ni Mikael Gallego ang STS poster sa pinakaitaas.