Poetry during the pandemic has taken the form of tanaga, a native Filipino poem with 4 lines and 7 syllables each.
Case in point: "Pitong Pantig, Pintig, at Pagitan," an anthology of 50 tanaga in Filipino and Bikolnon languages, was virtually launched on Friday, during which NCCA National Committee on Language and Translation Chair, Dr. Michael M. Coroza, sang some of the works in the anthology, to provce the musicality of our pre-colonial poetry.
Edited by Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika, at Anyo (LIRA) president Aldrin Pentero and Ateneo de Naga University Press deputy director Kristian Sendon Cordero, the book collected poems from 44 poets all over the country that spoke about the Filipino experience during pandemic.
The anthology was published by poetry group LIRA and Savage Mind: Arts, Books, Cinema, in cooperation with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). Cordero is the founder of Savage Mind, based in Naga, Camarines Sur.
Pentero wrote his introduction in the form of tanaga.
Here is our interview with the editors and contributors of the anthology.
What is it like to be a practicing poet in a time of pandemic and lockdown?
Pentero: It’s tough because books and bookshops were considered non-essential. With everything that’s happening, people would of course prioritize food and medicine. But for many, writing and selling books is their livelihood.
Cordero: I always think of what John Berger said about poetry, that it always speaks to the immediate wounds. Sa ganitong panahon ng malawakang ligalig dala ng pandemya, may pakiramdam akong inilalantad nito ang mga matinding sugat natin bilang mga tao sa mundo. Poetry gives us a window, a way of seeing the world from here and I hope that through this project we will be able to encourage more Filipinos to write tanaga in their own local languages.
Chito L. Aguilar (Daraga, Albay): This is my first time to write tanaga. The lockdown afforded me more time to retrospect and introspect; more time to write; hence, I wrote more poems in Bicol, Filipino, and English.
Eilyn Nidea (Ragay, Camarines Sur): Creative writing and virtual performances have been my way to cope and survive during these times of pandemic and lockdown. I am at my most peaceful and content when writing and performing.
Jhio Jan Navarro (Bago City, Negros Occidental): Poetry for me is a practice, not just of creativity, but of freedom. As such, to write poetry amid the deadly pandemic (i.e. the COVID-19 and the response of Duterte administration) that cages and shackles us, is to insist on our freedom. And, this is what I try to do—the act of imagining and thinking (of metaphors and imagery) being the practice of our essential freedom, and the act of actually writing, being the practice of our existential freedom
Jason Tabinas (Bula, Camarines Sur): It is more difficult to write during pandemic, which is a health, an economic, and a political crisis. As writers, we can do more about the political side by speaking about the current failure of the government in solving the COVID-19 problem, in its failure to conduct contact tracings and fast-track vaccinations to avoid further loss of lives and mitigate its effects by providing economic relief to businesses and workers who lost their jobs.
How can poems become safe spaces as most people are forced to stay home?
Pentero: We maybe physically safe, staying at home and avoiding the virus, but one thing that is not being talked about much is the effect of this isolation to our mental and emotional health. Writing and reading poetry give us that much needed space and allow us to freely process our feelings and fears and connect to others through the text.
Nidea: Poetry can be safe spaces for the “caged” humanity in these times. Many testimonies are attesting to this, not only from my poet and artist friends and mentors, but also from other readers and audiences, particularly those who are concerned about their mental wellness, which is really put at risk during this pandemic.
Tabinas: Poems provide an intimate space with readers where most persona directly talk to readers. However personal the experiences in the poems are, what is important is the range of perspectives and emotions being shared that allow readers to feel that these thoughts and emotions are theirs also and make them feel less alone. Poems allow exploration of thoughts and emotions in such limited, compressed, intense lines.
Should more Filipinos learn how to write and publish tanaga?
Cordero: Oo, at malugod sa pakiramdam na maraming mga Bikolnon ang sumali sa patimpalak na ito at nagtangkang magsulat sa anyong datirati’y iniiisip lamang na anyong Tagalog.
Kung nakakapagsulat nga tayo ng soneto, ng ghazals o ng mga tigsik, maaari din namang magsulat tayo ng mga diona, tanaga, ambahan, rawitdawit, o balak. Panahon na para linangin natin ang mga anyong pampanitikan gamit ang mga wika ng mga rehiyon.
Pentero: National Artist for Literature Virgilio Almario opens our annual LIRA Poetry Workshop with the lecture “Reklamasyon ng Pambansang Gunita,” which talks about the need for us Filipinos to know more about ourselves and learn about our history and culture. The practice enriches our culture and national identity.
Navarro: Given its significance to the Filipino literary heritage, I think it will be ideal for Filipinos to learn how to write and publish tanaga. To quote from National Artist Virgilio Almario, writing and publishing tanaga is “malusog na konserbatismo." Writing tanaga is also a good poetic exercise.
Why should people buy and read the anthology?
Cordero: Supporting Filipino authors should be everyone’s concern. Magandang pasiglahin at palakasin natin ang mga komunidad ng mga manunulat at itaguyod relasyong manunulat-mambabasa tulad ng ginagawa namin sa Savage Mind.
Time for us to experience literature not just in our classrooms but in our public spaces. Maaaring tumula gamit ang cellphones at may bisa pa rin ang mga salita natin kahit minumura na lamang ito maging ng pangulo.
Pentero: In this time of separation and self-isolation, I believe this book would connect us through our collective experience in this pandemic. One might think that the book is filled with angst and anguish. But there’s a lot of funny and witty entries in the collection. Also, it’s only a hundred pesos. We’re glad that with the help of NCCA we were able to make the book affordable so as not to add burden to the readers during this pandemic.
Tabinas: Short poems allow writers to focus on the most urgent issues and allow readers to do the same. The poems compiled in the anthology contain the most focused and critical emotional response to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. It’s an intimate sharing, an intimate space.
For inquiries on how to buy the book, please contact Savage Mind.
— LA, GMA News
