Voragen spoke about the relationship among language, body, and city, linking his practices as a poet and curator to show connections between the visual arts and writing.

For Voragen, artists and writers must engage with the city and its languages and use them as material to create new modalities and fresh expressions of art. “I invite you to make things. Even [in creating] meaningless stories, you do creativity. Even meaning is form […] try to meet the city, try to see how it will affect your body,” Voragen said.

Voragen has shared his art and craft in the neighboring Southeast Asian countries. He served as a curator of 1335MABINI Gallery in Ermita, Manila from 2017-2019.

“Open Forms” is part of the CCWLS International Writers and Scholars Lecture and Conversation Series, whose lineup consists of Filipino writers and scholars based abroad. Among them were Ninotchka Rosca, Sabina Murray, Gina Apostol, Miguel Syjuco, Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, R. Zamora Linmark, Eugene Gloria, Marivi Soliven, John Blanco, Lara Stapleton, M. Evelina Galang, Fidelito Cortes, Nerissa Balce, Amalia Bueno and Robert Nery; and foreign nationals, like Robin Hemley Tim Tomlinson, Dennis Haskell, Xu Xi, and Yukari Yoshihara.

Open Forms will serve as a space for students to explore experimental or hybrid poetry, paired with visual and other forms such as video, photography, collages, and performances.

The event was curated by Assoc. Prof. Nerisa Del Carmen Guevara of CCWLS and the Faculty of Arts and Letters and Assoc. Prof Mary Ann Venturina-Bulanadi, PhD of the College of Fine Arts and Design.

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According to Wigley, priority projects of BDAP include “activities related to the Philippines being the Guest of Honor in the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2025, establishment of Philippine Book Fairs in different parts of the country, the 2024 and 2025 Gintong Aklat Awards, and the strengthening of readership and book publishing among its stakeholders and members.”

Meanwhile, Parfan stated that collaborations “with the book industry, other academic institutions and our fellow publishers” will continue. Recently, UST participated in the Sinag Festival with other publishers from the country’s top universities. Being in BDAP, according to Parfan, “will also give the USTPH a voice in influencing policies concerning the publishing industry. As trustees, our participation in BDAP will also open doors to the university as regards major international book events and organizations. We’re also planning collaborative events where we can launch books from different publishers in one venue to provide more interactions among authors and readers.”

Parfan authored works such as “Orbits of Obsession: Notes on the Philippine Lyric Sequence in English,” “By the Fisherman’s Grief,” and “Antarctica” and was a finalist in plums such as the Madrigal Gonzalez Best First Book Award, the Gemino H. Abad Prize for Poetry, and Manining Miclat Awards for Poetry. He is a resident fellow of the Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies.

Wigley, former Chair of the Department of Literature, has authored several books, including “������ý of the Ashfall: A Memoir” and “Falling into the Manhole: A Memoir.” Apart from serving in administrative capacities in UST, he previously served as Treasurer of the BDAP from 2013-2017. Both are resident fellows of the Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies.

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Writers in time of a crumbling society

Rosca stated that FilIpinos yearn for completeness that can be found elsewhere and ignores the reality of a system that is specific to resistance and the realities of revolution. She prescribes what the writers should do in times of crisis where society is pulled in various directions due to divisiveness. “We should document the narrative of our times because time with a capital “T” is almost always the major character of any work of fiction. Second, we must try weave a cohesive narrative from all the [threads] of our histories, noting man to all the changes that there is still that great national ‘I am’ that cannot be eradicated. Third, we must resist the constant push for writers to dream upon idealized alternative [world] like Wakanda,” she said, highlighting that we must not turn away and replace our reality with fantasy.

“Our prime responsibility and our prime mission is to inspire these generation, and the next generation to believe that another world is possible,” Rosca said.

Between solitude and mobilization

According to Rosca, to be a writer and an activist is a huge contradiction, a tug-of-war between solitude and mobilization. “Writing is solitary ,and you do not write with committees. You sit at your desk and write,” she said. “Activism is socialized undertaking. You have to be with people, you have to move people, you have to mobilize,” she added.

Rosca is the author of “State of War”, “Sugar and Salt”, and “Stories of a Bitter Country”.

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The selected titles were chosen among 235 title nominations published in 2022 and across 34 categories, from poetry to book design.

The awarding ceremony will be held in February 2024, coinciding with the two-year preparation of the Philippines as the Guest of Honor in the prestigious Frankfurter Buchmesse 2025, the largest internationally renowned book fair, where the country is the second Southeast Asian nation.

The books that made the cut are:
1) Duterte Watch: Descent into Authoritarianism by Vergel O. Santos – Best Book in Journalism category;
2) Abangan: Mga Pambungad na Resepsiyon sa Kulura ng Teleserye by Louie Jon A. Sánchez – Best Book on Media Studies category;
3) Julio Nakpil Collected Works – Volume I: Piano, Vocal, and Chamber Music, edited by Ma. Alexandria Iñigo-Chua – Best Book on Art category;
4) Doing Philosophy in the Philippines: The Thomasian Collection, Volume II (1951-1959), edited by Alfredo P. Co – Best Book in Philosophy;
5) Growing Up Filipino 3: New Stories for Young Adults, edited by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard – Best Anthology in English category;
6) The Lives of a Filipino/A High School Student: Anthology of Personal Essays on High School, edited by Rolando B. Tolentino, Joselito D. Delos Reyes, and Ferdinand P. Jarin – Best Anthology in English category;
7) All My Distances Point to ������ý by King Llanza for the Best Poetry in English category;
8) The Holy Wife: Stories of Extraordinary Love by Ting Pantoja-Mañalac – Best Book of Nonfiction Prose in English category;
9) Ilustrado by Miguel Syjuco, translated by Chuckberry J. Pascual in Best Translated Book in Filipino and Best Book Design categories.

Recognizing the creative zeal in book publishing, the annual National Book Award honors the most outstanding books written, designed, and published in the Philippines.

Read the full list of finalists here:

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The award-winning book, published by the UST Publishing House in 2021, wheels through an avenue where readers are invited to ponder upon shared experiences embodied in his essays. “Paglalahad lang naman ng pakikisakay, paglalakbay, at pagiging pasahero ang naisulat ko doon sa aklat. Pero dahil pasahero tayong lahat, one way or another, baka may shared experiences tayo na pwede pag-isipan, pagnilayan, at kung may matutuhan, kahit hindi sadya, makakabuti,” Delos Reyes said.

‘Maging mabuti, maging makatao’

For the Creative Writing program coordinator of the Department of Literature, while awards serve as validation and testament of the writer’s zeal, he underscored that the writers should make the readers reflect and ruminate. “Sa mga nagsisikap makapagsulat, may award man o wala, maging popular man o hindi, pagsikapan sanang sumulat o mag-articulate ng ideya na makapagpapabuti sa kalagayan ng tao at lipunan, to make people a tad more intelligent, discerning, and reflective sa mga nangyayari sa kanilang paligid, at makatulong sa ikabubuti ng lipunan,” he said.

“Maging magaling na manunulat, yes. Pero higit sa pagiging magaling, maging mabuti. Maging makatao. May validation man ng awards o kadalasan, wala., he added.

Bestowed every two years since 1981, Gintong Aklat Awards honors outstanding book publishers based on the quality of books they produce yearly; it is managed by the Book Development Association of the Philippines (BDAP), whose awards are meant to recognize excellence in bookmaking in the country today among its members.

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Pantoja-Hidalgo joins fellow Philippine literary titans such as National Artists for Literature Nick Joaquin (1980 SEA Write Awardee) and Bienvenido Lumbera (2016 SEA Write Awardee). Thomasian mentors such as the late Arts and Letters Dean Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta (1999), Rebecca T. Añonuevo-Cunada (2013), and Michael Coroza (2007) also join the illustrious list.

In an interview with the Communications Bureau, Pantoja-Hidalgo expressed gratitude to the “legendary Philets,” the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, where she earned her bachelor’s degree. “While there were no formal creative writing courses then, it helped that I had wonderful Literature teachers (like Erlinda Francia Rustia, Ophelia Alcantara, and in graduate school, Carolina Garcia). They simply assumed that we, their students, loved reading, and encouraged us to delve deeper into books. As we all know, for writers, this love for and familiarity with, good books, is essential. It also helped that most of the students around me were, or dreamt of being, writers. Some were already working for the national papers and magazines. In that sense, Philets was a true writing school. And I feel owe it a great deal.”

A prolific writer and multi-awarded scholar, she has published more than 40 books, including novels, short stories, and creative nonfiction collections. She has received three Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, including the Grand Prize for her novel “Recuerdo.” 

Prior to leading the CCWLS, Pantoja-Hidalgo was Director of the UST Publishing House. An alumna of the University, she earned her Bachelor of Philosophy and Master of Arts in Literature degrees in the 1960s before eventually earning a doctorate in Comparative Literature from the University of the Philippines.

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Marking a literary milestone that offered a refreshed inspiration into the genre of flash fiction, the anthology contains 97 stories that distilled the vastness of human experience expressed in a few hundred words; it features the voices of 16 Filipino writers who articulated joys and sorrows, grief and mischief, and precarious social conditions in the country.

“We hope these stories—quick reads that take no time at all, brief and sudden like a flare of light—will, instead of flickering out, like an afterimage, linger and stay with you for a while,” Lopa-Macasaet shared.

Reunion with the mentor

Most of the authors in the anthology also looked back and expressed their gratitude to Professor Emerita Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo, PhD, Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies (CCWLS) Director.

Once under Prof. Hidalgo’s tutelage, the authors now have publications of their own and have bagged recognitions. They recalled that she was instrumental in developing their skills in crafting stories throughout their respective careers.

In response, Hidalgo said: “For me, it has been most gratifying to watch them grow as writers publishing in magazines and journals, publishing their own books, and now coming together again through this book.”

The book launch was in partnership with the Likhaan Creative Writing Foundation.

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The AD Scientific Index uses the total and last five years’ values of the author impact index and citation scores from Google Scholar to rank scientists by subject, institution, country, region, and in the world according to scientific performance and the added value of the scientific productivity.

Hidalgo, who holds a doctorate degree in comparative literature, is also a Professor Emeritus of English and Comparative Literature at the University of the Philippines (UP).

Among the many awards she has received are the Gawad Balagtas, Gawad Dangal ng Lahi, and three Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, including the Grand Prize for the Novel in 1996 for Recuerdo. She has also been recognized as an Outstanding Thomasian Writer and an International Publication Award Hall of Famer.

Hidalgo has published more than 40 books, including novels, short story and CNF collections, and autobiographical travel books. Her works on literary criticism and research focusing on women’s literature have contributed greatly to local and international feminist scholarship.

Her latest book, What I Wanted to be When I Grew Up, released by UP Press in May 2022, is a memoir that traces the effects on her life of the books she read and movies she watched from childhood to high

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Capping the previous Academic Year, USTPH also took pride in publishing the two-volume screenplays and a collection of short stories of Ricky Lee, the newly minted 2022 National Artist of the Philippines for Film and Broadcast Arts.

The following is the complete lineup of the published books in different fields:

Poetry
1) Lunas sa Nabubuong Lubos by Paul Alcoseba Castillo
2) Burning Houses and Hush Harbor by Mookie Katigbak-Lacuesta
3) All My Distances Point to ������ý by King Llanza
4) Moon Hanging Low Over my Window and Other Poems by Babeth Lolarga

Fiction
1) Servando Magdmag at iba pang Maiikling Kuwento by Ricky Lee
2) Ilustrado by Miguel Syjuco (Translated by Chuckberry Pascual)

Screenplays
1) Mga Screenplay ni Ricky Lee Vol. 1: Brutal, Moral, Karnal by Ricky Lee
2) Mga Screenplay ni Ricky Lee Vol. 1: Himala, Salome, at Cain at Abel

Creative Nonfiction
1) #Pasahero: Mga Nakikisakay na Sanaysay by Joselito delos Reyes
2) The Holy Wife: Stories of Extraordinary Love by Ting Pantoja-Manalac

Social Sciences
1) Duterte Watch: Descent into Authoritarianism by Vergel O. Santos
2) Sports in the Philippines: History, Values, Spirituality by Rev. fr. Edgardo D. Alaurin, O.P., SThD
3) ASEAN as an International Organization: International Law and Region-building in Southeast Asia by Jose Duke Bagulaya

Theology
1) Church as a Communion: Perspectives and Expressions (Edited by Rev. fr. Jannel N Abogado, O.P., DTPS)

USTPH also revealed its three upcoming titles: “Shooting the Zombie Apocalypse” by UZ Eliserio (Fiction – Short Stories), “Faith and Psychology: A Walkthrough on the Filipino Basic Ecclesial Communities” by Milagros Arrevillaga (Nonfiction – Social Sciences), and “From Manila to the World” by Paolo Mangahas (Creative Nonfiction – Travel Essays).

Serving as the University’s publishing arm, USTPH was established in 1996 through the merger of the Santo Tomas University Press (STUP), and the UST Printing Office (USTPO). USTPH evolved from the UST Press, which was founded in 1593 by Fr. Francisco de San Jose, O.P. It is the oldest continuing press in the world today, next to Cambridge University in England.

Get your copies of the books here:
Shopee:
Lazada:

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This virtual ��ê�ٱ�-à-��ê�ٱ� entitled “The Other World: The Challenges and Anxieties of Translation”, held on November 17, 2021 via livestream, was a part of UST Publishing House‘s “UST Author Lecture Series” in the Manila International Book Fair 2021 (MIBF 2021), where Thomasian authors shared their knowledge on literature and on developing one’s craft.��

Challenges of translation

While translating Hidalgo’s two critically acclaimed books, Pascual shared the challenges he faced in the process, citing the translation of the female voice in the books from English to Filipino. “Iniisip ko baka mamaya ideal translator ni Ma’am [Hidalgo] ay babae rin, so isa iyon sa mga bagay na dapat kong i-overcome habang sinasalin ko ang mga libro,” he said.

Likewise, Hidalgo noted that her two books embodied different voices. Nonetheless, she lauded Pascual for giving justice to its Filipino translation. “Generally, my narrator is a woman and often a woman like myself, iba ang boses ng ‘The Ballad of a Lost Season’ sa ‘Where the ‘Moon Only Rages’, which are fairy tales,” she said. “[Pascual] was able to get that voice and translate it, which is to me a marvel,” she added.

Moreover, Pascual underscored that Filipino poet Gemino Abad’s theory, which is writing “from” English, guided him in translating English works. “Isinasalin ko lang [ang mga akda] pabalik, so may pagsundo. At isang paraan din sa pagsundo ng mga akda ni Ma’am Jing [Hidalgo] ay ang pagpapalitaw ng pagkakautang niya roon sa oral tradition,” he said, noting that Hidalgo’s works harked at the stories from her generation’s grandparents.

Both the translated works, Kundiman ng Panahong Naiwan and Sa Bayan ng Nagngangalit na Buwan: 9 na Kuwentong Bayan, were published by the UST Publishing House.

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Looking back at old works

For Hidalgo, revisiting her old works published more than a decade ago, felt like it was written by a “very young woman” or another person. “When I read the book in translation, it was the strangest feeling: it was like revisiting an old place and then you see your former neighbors, or people you used to know, and they are speaking in another language, so that it seems to me that they are different people, including the character who was based on me,” Hidalgo said.

“It’s like meeting strangers, but the strangers that you used to know, so they are partly familiar and partly unfamiliar.” she added.

An award-winning fictionist and a renowned travel writer, Hidalgo has authored more than 30 books of fiction, travel, essays, and reference materials. Some of her notable works are Catch a Falling Star, Stella and other Friendly Ghosts, Creative Nonfiction (a manual and a textbook), and Collected Stories and Tales, to name some.

The moderator of this event was Prof. John Jack G. Wigley, PhD of RCCAH and Department of Literature.

Revisit the literary conversation between Thomasian authors .

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