Nov-Dec 2012
2012 Davao Writers Workshop held Rene Estremera
U.P. News 15
23rd conference on West Visayan history, culture held
Photos by Dominique Cimafranca, et al
Eliodora L. Dimzon
Seated from left to right are panelists Cruz and Bengan, Vice-Chancellor Calag; keynote speaker Reyes, and panelists Tiu, De Veyra, and De Ungria, with workshop fellows behind them.
The Davao Writers Guild, in cooperation with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and UP Mindanao (UPMin), held the 4th Davao Writers Workshop from October 15 to 19 in Davao City. UPMin professor and workshop director Ricardo de Ungria described the workshop as a success, with 15 fellows selected from a record total of 62 applicants. Welcome remarks were given by UPMin Vice-Chancellor for Administration Vicente Calag. Keynote speaker Lina Sagaral Reyes
shared with the “youthful crop of writers grown on the rich soil of Mindanao cultures” her “four fragments on the writing life,” which she enumerated as, to “choose whether to go slow or hurry up,” to “immerse oneself in the worlds of other writers,” to “say it in your own words,” and to “find a way home where you develop context for a life.” The panelists for the 2012 workshop were UPMin faculty members Jhoanna Lynn Cruz, Antonino Salvador de Veyra, and John Bengan, with Davao-based
writer Macario Tiu, and guest writer Lina Sagaral Reyes. The fellows for poetry were Jan Vaughnce Yrish Plaza, Melona Grace Mascariñas, Nasseth Macla, Peachy Cleo Dehino, and Arian Tejano. The fellows for fiction were Joy Montecalvo, Kenneth Ballena, Rolly Jude Ortega, Romulo Vinci Bueza, and Ruthlyn Hinampas-Sumandang. The fellows for creative nonfiction were Doreen Mae Alolod, Gracielle Deanne Tubera, Karen Kae Ferraz Dicdican, Marc Josiah Lapus Pranza, and Marlouzel Mabunga.
UPV launches Locsin-Nava’s latest book Eliodora L. Dimzon
printing the novel in book form, which was sold to homesick Ilonggos abroad for two dollars a copy by a local entrepreneur. An exotic blend of history, legend, romance and epic, Margosatubig deals with the struggles of a young, talismanned Muslim hero, Salagunting, to regain Margosatubig, the kingdom his grandfather lost to an ambitious tyrant. His own father failed to regain it and even lost his own life in the process. Written after the Second World War, the novel struck a nationalistic chord with its post-war audience who read into Muzones’s portrayal of his young hero’s repeated efforts to wrest back control of his kingdom the Philippines’ own attempts to ward off successive foreign invasions. Nava’s translation is a readable English version of a regional literary treasure. It is a lucid, unornamented rendition of the original Yuhum novel that quite effectively gave to its readers the delicious sensation of following the development, chapter by chapter, of the serialized popular novel. Through her labors, she hopes to have secured for Muzones a position in the line-up for the title National Artist for Literature. She has long been advocating for his nomination as a national artist given that Muzones had written 62 novels of various types and was one who made the radical shift
in the development of Hiligaynon literature from the expository (“telling”) to the dramatic (“showing”) narrative technique. During the launch, Nava delivered a paper entitled “Ramon Muzones: The Most Outstanding Hiligaynon Writer of the Century.” Dr. Alicia Tan Gonzales, a Palanca awardee for literature and a faculty member of the Division of Humanities, College of Arts and Sciences introduced the author. Prof. Dominique Maquiran and Prof. Maria Joji Tan read excerpts from the original version of Ramon Muzones and the English translation by Nava, respectively. Maquiran and Tan are faculty members of the UP High School Iloilo, CAS. The highlight of the launch was Nava’s presentation of the first copy of her translation to Atty. Rex Muzones, eldest son of the late Atty. Ramon Muzones. The affair was also graced by the children of the late Ramon Muzones, multi-awarded writers, Dr. Leoncio Deriada and Dr. Isidoro Cruz, UPV Chancellor Rommel Espinosa, UPV Consultant for Culture and the Arts, Mr. Lincoln Drilon, UPV constituents, and other invited guests. Nava’s book launch caps the first day of CWVS’ annual conference on Western Visayan Culture and History at Carmina’s Balay na Bato in Villa. (CWVS) CWVS CWVS)
Photo from http://www.ateneopress.org/image/cache/data/Margosatubig-500x500.jpg
Dr. Ma. Cecilia Locsin- Nava’s English translation of Ramon Muzones’ Margosatubig, Margosatubig the first Hiligaynon international bestseller was launched by the Center of West Visayan Studies (CWVS), UP Visayas (UPV) last November 15 at the UPV Art Gallery, Iloilo City campus. The book, which is endorsed by the Commission of Higher Education, was launched initially by two National Artists for Literature, Bienvenido Lumbera and Virgilio Almario last August 17 at the Ateneo de Manila University. Lumbrera in his book blurb called Nava’s version “a wonder work in translation, literate and literary”; while Almario hailed Nava as his” model of a good critic in regional literature and of a dedicated translator.” The book also had a sold out launch at the Negros Museum in Bacolod City last September 7. Muzones’s lone novel, “Margosatubig,” made publishing history in 1946 when it raised Iloilo’s City’s Yuhum magazine’s weekly circulation from 2,500 to 37,000. Such was a considerable increase in circulation when compared to the circulation of only 12,000 of Hiligaynon, which was nationally distributed then. Its success inspired Mariano Diolosa, a local publisher to cash in on the popularity of “Margosatubig” by
Continuing its long tradition of disseminating knowledge on the rich cultural heritage of the region, the Center for West Visayan Studies (CWVS) held the 23rd Conference on West Visayan History and Culture last November 15 and 16 at the Camiña Balay nga Bato, Arevalo, Iloilo City. The annual conference’s theme was “Finding Heritage: Continuing the Search for the West Visayan Cultural Identity.” The two sub-themes of the conference were artistic traditions (visual, culinary, and performing arts, folk traditions, beliefs, and practices); and heritage institutions (museums, heritage councils, schools for living traditions, the academe, LGUs, and non-government organizations). Ten papers were presented and these included 1) “Rereading Ilonggo History through New Sources in Print and the Internet Media” by Eugenio Jamerlan of the Iloilo City Cultural Heritage Conservation Council (ICHCC); 2) “Old Buildings, Streetscapes, and Globalization: Heritagebased Development and Sustainability of Iloilo Central Business District” by James Mozart Amsua of the University of San Agustin; 3) “Rediscovering Buenavista, Guimaras through Artifacts and Natural Heritage” by Dr. Lilian Diana Parreño, et al. of Guimaras State College; 4) “The War in Panay, 1942-1945: Searching for the View from the Barrio” by Matthew Riley of the Visayan Historical Consultants, California State University, East Bay; 5) “War Memorials in Southern Iloilo” by Irene Bel Ploteña of UP Visayas (UPV); 6) Aklanon Values in Aklanon Proverbs, Idiomatic Expressions and Folk Songs” by Alexander de Juan of Aklan State University-Ibajay Campus; 7) “Metaphor or “Palaanggiran” in Ilonggo Folk Speech” by Dr. Alicia TanGonzales, of UPV; 8) “Ramon Muzones: Most Outstanding Hiligaynon Writer of the Century” by Dr. Ma. Cecilia Locsin-Nava, of Bacolod City; 9) “Cultural Intensions in Panubok Embroidery” by Dr. Maria Christine Muyco, UP Diliman; and 10) “Reclaiming the Glory of the Bamboo” by Alice Prieto-Carolino of UPV. The conference consisted of paper presentations and a tour of two heritage houses in Arevalo, the Iloilo Sinamay House, and the Camiña Balay nga Bato. Humanities, social sciences, and social studies teachers, cultural workers, tourism officers, and history students comprise the participants of the conference.
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