Philippine PEN to hold literature workshop and writers forum in Naga

The Philippine Center of International PEN (Poets, Playwrights, Essayists, Novelists) will hold “For Love of the Word: Workshops on Teaching Philippine Literature in High School and College” on July 28 (Monday), from 8:30am to 6:00 pm, at Ateneo de Naga University, Naga City, Camarines Sur, Bicol Region.
 
As a component of PEN International’s 2014 Beacon Centre Programme, this project is part of the series of teacher-training workshops organized by the Philippine Center across the country. It seeks to enhance the skills of literature teachers in both secondary and tertiary levels, especially on the teaching of poetry, fiction, and drama by Filipino authors. Previous workshops were held in Manila, Iloilo, Cebu, Baguio, Naga, Bohol, and Cagayan de Oro.
 
Teaching Bikol literature and teaching the Philippine novel will be the foci of the 2014 Naga workshop. The resource speakers-facilitators are Dr. Paz Verdades Santos of Ateneo de Naga University and Prof. Timothy Montes of De La Salle University, Manila.
 
The workshop sessions will be supplemented by a forum on “The New Local: Poetics and Politics of Bikol Contemporary Writers,” with poets Frank V. Peñones Jr., Maryanne Moll and Estelito Jacob as members of the panel. Tito Genova Valiente, Director of the Institute of Bikol History andCulture, will chair the panel forum.
 
This event will also launch an impressive array of publications by Ateneo de Naga University Press: “Obras Maestras: A Manual for Teaching Bikol Literature,” edited by Paz Verdades Santos and Marifa Borja-Prado; “P.I. and Cancion nin Tawong Lipod” by H. Francisco Penones Jr.; “Pinagrok asin iba pang rawitdawit” by Estelito Jacob; “Married Women: Stories” by Maryanne Moll; and the inaugural issue of “Bikol Studies Journal,” edited by Federico Jose Lagdameo.
 
This event is co-hosted by Ateneo de Naga University, and supported by PEN International in London and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).
 
There is no registration fee for the workshop and booklaunching. For inquiries and pre-registration, please contact Philippine PEN at Solidaridad Bookstore, 531 Padre Faura St., Ermita, Manila; email philippinepen@yahoo.com; mobile: +639175287491.
 
 

Press release from PEN Philippines