The Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Center and the Literature Department of De La Salle University held “Kalagayan ng Panulaan sa Filipino at Iba Pang Lokal na Wika: Lectures and a Round Table Discussion” on July 10 at the DLSU Libraries.
The speakers were Allan Popa (Filipino), Niles Jordan Breis (Bicol), Faye Cura (women’s poetry), and Jerry Grácio (Waray) with Mesándel Virtusio Arguelles as the moderator. The speakers each presented a brief lecture before the round-table discussion.
Popa is the author of 10 books, including Damagan and Narkotiko at Panganorin. He teaches literature and creative writing at the Ateneo de Manila University.
Cura is the cofounder of Gantala Press, an independent women’s publishing that caters to the works of Filipina authors.
Breis is a Palanca award-winning poet and the recipient of the 1994 Makata ng Taon given by the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF). He recently won the grand prize in the First Valledor Prize for the Best Bikol Novel.
Grácio works as a senior writer at ABS-CBN. He also serves as the commissioner for the wikang Samar-Leyte of KWF. He is the recipient of the 2015 Southeast Asia Award.