Hagbayon

I was invited
as guest writer during the Mundag Literary Awards last night, February
17 in Ateneo de Naga University. I shared a couple of poems to an
audience of student writers, artists, computer experts even (it was
also the soft launch of The Pillars Web site).

Keynote speaker was writer and cultural worker Carlo A. Arejola. For
his part, he invited the student writers to join the Juliana
Arejola-Fajardo Workshop for Bikol Writing slated this summer. As you
know, I was the director of last year’s workshop and it really would be
great to have all those who participated in the contest as fellows in
the coming literary communion in Pili.

I was seated beside fellow guest writer Kristian Cordero and we
talked about the situation of Bikol literature or literature in general
in the academe. We saw that there is still a need for a more active
participation on the part of the academe in the rebirth of Bikol
literature. Not that we Bikol writers rely on the bureaucracy of the
academic setting, we have seen ourselves succeed in projects with our
own initiative.

During the awards night, Ateneo teachers were not visible. With
this, Kristian and I commented that there is really a need to have
writer-teachers who have much passion for literature. Literary art is
somewhat contagious and having a writer for a teacher will help produce
more writers, if not, people who have literary sensibility. Also it
will bring literature out of the classroom toward its organic reality
and not reduce it to mere academic units or schedule.

We have heard of competent and charismatic writers who failed to
qualify for a teaching job just because he/she does not have an MA. I
think we should not be too strict with regard to this rule. There are
things about creativity and teaching that cannot be measured by a
master’s thesis.

Again, I say congratulations to all those who participated in the Mundag project.