anvil publishing's AUTHOR CENTRAL

Anvil winners at the 28th National Book Awards

2009-11-15T08:30:00.000+08:00

Major wins at the 28th National Book Awards (for books published in
2008)!

Congrats to Anvil authors:

GRACE NONO (The Shared Voice)

AMANDO DORONILA (Afro-Asia in Upheaval)

ADELAIDA LIM et al (Cafe by the Ruins)

BINO REALUYO (The Gods We Worship Live Next Door)

NICK DEOCAMPO (Sine Gabay)

ANVIL also won Publisher of the Year (9 glorious times now!).

What a shower of blessings! Read full list of winners via Dr. Isagani R. Cruz's blog

JOB OPENING: Marketing Coordinator

2009-06-03T15:31:00.000+08:00

Hi guys :)

Anvil Publishing is currently looking for a Marketing Coordinator who can handle events and promotion of new and backlist books.

Duties and Responsibilities include:

Prepares all publicity, promotions and merchandising requirements for all Anvil publications.
Requests the publishing department for materials needed for the preparation of the above.
Monitors all publicity materials released on TV, radio and print, and distributes these to the sales and the publishing departments.
Organizes all book launchings and coordinates requirements with the concerned departments.
Requests for promotional and merchandising materials of supplied trade books on an exclusive distributorship deal with Anvil from their respective publishers.
Conceptualizes and organizes lectures, readings, book signings, seminars and other special activities for backlist in cooperation with sales personnel.
Helps marketing and sales department with their internal/external correspondence.
Designs and implements backlist promotions plan/campaigns under the guidance of the Marketing Manager.
Supervise website maintenance and updates, and give new materials to the IT personnel for posting.
All other duties that may be assigned to carry out the job as marketing assistant.

Requirements:

Candidate must possess at least a Bachelor's/College Degree in Mass Communication, Management or Literature or any equivalent course.
At least 1 - 2 years of working experience in the related field is required for this position.
Preferably at least 1/2 years Experienced Employees specializing in Marketing or equivalent job role as Marketing Officer.
Excellent command of written and spoken English.
Required Skills: Microsoft programs (Word, Powerpoint, Excel)
Preferred Skills: Photoshop, Pagemaker, Dreamweaver
Able to work on weekends and holidays as required.
Full-Time positions available.

Interested parties must e-mail their updated resume at marketing@anvilpublishing.com.

Bye, Aling Bebang!

2009-03-23T15:59:00.003+08:00

"borrowed" above image from a Likhaan link.

learned about the sad news early today. the wake is in Sanctuarium in Araneta Avenue, Quezon City. Interment will be this Wednesday, March 25, 2009. more details to be posted here as soon as we get them.

got the following bit from Ian Rosales Casocot's blog:

Genoveva Edroza Matute, or Aling Bebang, died in her sleep Saturday night. She was 94. Fondly read for her award-winning stories and essays, the great writer Genoveva Edroza Matute was born on 3 January 1915. A devoted educator, she spent many years as head of the Philippine Normal University’s Department of Filipino. In 1992, she was conferred the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining (Panitikan) by the Cultural Center of the Philippines. She has won the Palanca multiple times for stories written in what critics have called "very accessible" Tagalog. These stories include "Kuwento ni Mabuti," "Paglalayag sa Pusa ng Isang Bata," "Parusa," "Maganda Ang Ninang Ko," and "Pagbabalik." Her books include Mga Piling Maiikling Kuwento, Tinig ng Damdamin, Katipunan ng Kanyang mga Piling: Sanaysay, and Sa Anino ng EDSA. Ang Kanilang Mga Sugat is Matute’s first novel.

Slum Book Questions: Valentine's Edition

2009-02-13T11:57:00.019+08:00

Four simple questions. That’s it. They should be easy to answer. Unfortunately only 8 gracious souls out of about 80 Anvil authors, artists and editors replied to our email asking for answers to four very simple questions in time for Valentine’s Day. But we guess the others who ignored the questions were 1) too shy to answer; 2) too tired rolling their eyes, ho-humming and poo-poohing us; or 3) didn’t want people to know their deep, dark secrets. So anyway, the 8 respondents who did give us their time have very interesting answers (some of them didn’t answer all questions, though, but who cares?). In the spirit of hearts day, enjoy!

SLUM BOOK QUESTIONS: Valentine’s edition

Who was your first crush?
Christine: si Steve ng Voltes V (abnormal)

Panch: I think it was Andre Gower from the Monster Squad

Patti: A Jesuit priest

Nemah: My catechism instructor (a seminarian), when I was in second grade.

Frank: My sister brought me to watch Paper Moon and since then, I fell in love with Tatum O'Neal.

Tony: Carmelita Canlas

Elbert: My first crush was watching Caselyn Francisco on That's Entertainment. One day I will meet her in person and it will bring my childhood to a completion. (In the meantime, my childhood's still in a holding pattern.)

Cyan: Robin the Boy Wonder

Who was your first kiss?
Panch: Not applicable. Hahahaha.

Patti: A pimply 16-year-old boy

Nemah: Someone who was 6"4; he had to bend way down to reach my lips.

Frank: It was a classmate in Grade III. It was a dare orchestrated by my best friend, Bernardo, while playing in recess one August morning. But try as I can, I forgot her name.

Tony: Becky Misa

Cyan: my first boyfriend at 21

Who is your fantasy romantic partner?
Christine: singer Josh Groban (first choice); American actor Jensen Ackles

Panch: Johnny Depp

Patti: Someone who will remain nameless

Nemah: Depends on the time of day: Hugh Jackman in the morning; George Clooney at night. Lately, David Beckham is fading out and Barack Obama is getting into the picture.

Frank: Fermina Daza (Love in the Time of Cholera)

Tony: Secret

Elbert: My fantasy romantic partner is Natalie Portman, although I'm not sure the girlfriend will appreciate that. (I love you!)

Cyan: Mr. Darcy of Pride and Prejudice

How will you celebrate Valentine’s Day this year?
Christine: usap lang kami sa phone. long distance. mahal magmahal.

Panch: Go swimming probably or working.

Patti: Will most likely forget unless reminded of it.

Nemah: Hmmm, probably curled up in bed, with a book of poems on erotica.

Frank: After the Taboan Writers Congress in QC, I will attend the "Presences and Absences" Poetry Reading at the Café by the Ruins and then drink the night away with my ruined poet friends

Tony: Meeting with Santeros Filipinos and practicing Santeria

Elbert: My better half and I are planning to go to Chinatown on a food trip with some friends during the day, then maybe cook dinner for each other, just the two of us, after that. Staying in and avoiding the Valentine crowds.

Cyan: spend time with my husband and hobbits

Cyan Abad-Jugo is the author of Leaf and Shadow: Stories About Some Friendly Creatures and has a story in the forthcoming anthology A Time for Dragons.

Frances (Panch) Alcaraz illustrated Ang Mahiwagang Biyulin, Ang Prinsipe ng mga Ibon, Ang Kapatid ng Tatlong Marya, Cyan Abad-Jugo’s Leaf and Shadow and the recently released Heaven’s Butterfly.

Christine S. Bellen retells the stories of Lola Basyang in Anvil’s first children’s book series, Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang ni Severino Reyes (15 titles as of this writing).

Frank Cimatu is co-editor of the forthcoming Mondo Marcos: Martial Law Babies Write About Marcos and His Martial Law.

Nemah Hermosa is the co-author of the best-selling series Our World of Reading that’s been used in schools since the 1990s.

Patricia (Patti) Laurel is the author of the young adult novel Only If You Can Find Me.

Elbert Or illustrated Ang Parusa ng Duwende, Ang Binibining Tumalo sa Hari and the forthcoming San Miguel Pure Foods’ Kid’s Kitchen Camp Cookbook.

Tony Perez is the author of The Calling, Mga Panibagong Kulam, and the Sitio Katakutan series.

Photos of Christine, Nemah, Elbert and Tony by Wendy Basilio, copyright by Anvil Publishing.

BENJAMIN PIMENTEL, Anvil Author for January 2009

2009-01-14T17:26:00.018+08:00

BENJAMIN PIMENTEL grew up in Quezon City and was educated at the Ateneo de Manila, the University of the Philippines-Diliman and the University of California at Berkeley. He moved to the United States in 1990 and earned a master's degree from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism in 1993. He was a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle for 14 years and now covers technology for MarketWatch. He currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and kids.

A Q & A with Benjamin

Pimentel on Pareng Barack: Filipinos in Obama's America

What will readers find interesting about the book?

Pareng Barack is an account of how Filipinos responded to the historic election campaign. The book also examines the Filipino American story filtered through my own experiences and insights as a journalist based in Cailfornia.

What makes Pareng Barack different from other books about Barack Obama?

The book offers a look at the historic campaign and racial issues in the United States through Filipino American eyes.

Are there little known facts about Obama in the book?

I was struck when I read Obama's memoir Dreams from My Father that he had tried dog meat when he was growing up in Indonesia. He also played some games that would be familiar to Filipino children such as kite duels. More importantly, Obama got a close look at poverty in a Third World country during his time in Indonesia.

How will the presidency of Barack Obama impact on the lives of Filipino Americans?

Because race has played such a critical role in American politics for a long time, I think Obama's election as the first person of color to serve as US president has had a tremendous impact on communities of color in general, including Filipino Americans.

How did you gather materials for this book? Did you encounter any problems in information-gathering and writing?

I had followed the media accounts of the campaign and how Filipinos reacted. I also talked to some Filipinos who were involved in the campaign or were affected by the election battle. The book also was based on past issues and stories I covered as a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle.

What do you like most about Barack Obama?

He is an intellectual who also has worked at the grassroots level as a community organizer. So his intellectual depth is impressive, but he can also be pragmatic having worked at many levels of public service. And he has displayed a steady temperament that is very much needed right now. As others have noted he is perhaps the most even-keeled American president in a generation.

The least about him?

He is a politician and thus will likely have to make compromises once in power. That's the part about him that's untested. How will he be affected by power and the trappings of the presidency? I have no delusions about his presidency and the challenges he faces. As one Filipino American told me, Obama now has the worst job on the planet.

What attributes made him win the presidency?

I think Americans were tired of the old order and ready to embrace a major change. Obama's intellect, temperament and his impressive campaign were enough to win the support of even the most skeptical voters.

What does Obama need to turn around the US economy?

There are no easy answers. The key I think will be to consult with as many groups and experts as possible, unite and rally these sectors around a strategy and pursue that plan.

FAST FACTS about the Author:

Full Name: Benjamin Pimentel

Literary Byline: Benjamin Pimentel

Nickname: Boying

Spouse: Mara Torres

Children: Paolo, Anton

Current job: Business journalist

Works published by Anvil: UG

An Underground Tale and Pareng Barack: Filipinos in Obama's

America

Other works: Mga Gerilya sa Powell Street (Ateneo De Manila University Press)

Awards: National Book Award Juan C. Laya Prize for fiction for Mga Gerilya sa Powell Street (2007); Golden Gate Award, 1994 San Francisco International Film Festival for Toxic Sunset, a documentary about the environmental damage caused by the US bases in the Philippines; Filipinas Magazine Achievement Award for communications (2001)

Web page: bpimentel.blogspot.com

Benjamin Pimentel's Top Five Books:

Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
America is in the Heart by Carlos Bulosan
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman
Noli Me Tangere by Jose Rizal

Favorite lines from books:

From The Grapes of Wrath

“I’ll be all aroun’ in the dark, I’ll be ever’where—wherever you look. Wherever they’s a fight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Wherever they’s a fight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Wherever they’s a copy beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there….”

From The Wisdom of No Escape

“So whether it’s anger or craving or jealousy or fear or depression—whatever it might be —the notion is not to try to get rid of it, but to make friends with it. That means getting to know it completely, with some kind of softness, and learning how once you’ve experienced it fully, to let go.”

Now, for some random questions:

Do you read the story or book first before you watch the film?

I usually read the book first. I did watch The Motorcycle Diaries, by Che Guevarra, first, before reading the book.

But with other works, such as The House of the Spirits,A Civil Action and Snow Falling on Cedar, I read the books first before seeing the film. Reading and watching either a film or stage adaptation of a published work are two different experiences and I've found that each can be engaging. For example, I totally enjoyed the Cultural Center of the Philippines' Tanghalang Pilipino's adaptation of my novel, Mga Gerilya sa Powell Street, which playwright Rody Vera and director Chris Millado transformed into a fun and moving musical comedy. There are times when reading is simply a more enjoyable experience. For instance, I enjoyed reading The Da Vinci Code, but wasn't that impressed with the movie (although I'm a Tom Hanks fan.)

Do you write on your books?

Not usually. But I did underline passages—and I still do, actually this—in my copies of American Pema Chodron's inspiring books, such as the The Wisdom of No Escape and When Things Fall Apart.

Have you ever named someone or something after a literary character, a book title or a writer?

I once had two pet hamsters named Alex and Pearl, after Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Pearl S. Buck. Actually, I didn't know the gender of each hamster and was surprised when Alex ended up giving birth to hamster pups.

Have you ever stolen a book from a library?

Never, I'm proud to say. One of my biggest concerns, in fact, is forgetting to return a book and getting hit with a whopping penalty years later. I've read a news story or two about something like that happening.

Name at least 2 writers or literary characters you won't invite to your kid's wedding.

Dmitri and Ivan Karamazov, Padre Salvi, Padre Damaso. Just can't imagine having a fun, memorable wedding with these neurotic or devious characters at the party.

What literary character did/do you have a crush on?

Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice. I have this vague memory of wishing I were Darcy while reading the novel. And also Alba in The House of the Spirits.

What's your fantasy pen name?

Hmmm. Don't have one. And if I did, I'd probably want to keep it secret.

Which 3 writers or literary characters you want to have coffee with?

I'd love to have beer with John LeCarre and listen to him talk about his experiences as a spy and a spy novelist.

Coffee with Jose Rizal would be fantastic, of course. I'd ask him about the other novels he had planned to write.

I'd be also great to have beer with Tom Joad. I've always wondered if he ever came across Filipino migrant workers, like say Carlos Bulosan, during those tough times.

And I also would love to have a beer and sisig with my late mentor Roger Sicat, and then have other writer-friends join us, led by Pete Lacaba, Greg Brillantes and Juaniyo Arcellana. We won’t run out of things to talk about.

Welcome, 2009!

2009-01-14T17:09:00.007+08:00

To welcome 2009, we are reviving the Author of the Month feature, which we unfortunately kind of abandoned last year due to several things that we’d rather not bore you with. We hope that this little corner of cyberspace, this time, will be much more interesting, informative and worthwhile, specially all things Anvil book authors and artists and Philippine literature and the book industry in general.

We start the year with a short feature on BENJAMIN PIMENTEL, author of the recently launched Pareng Barack: Filipinos in Obama’s America where he talks about Obama’s “incredible march to the American presidency and how Filipinos responded to his stunning campaign and victory.” The book is also about “the Filipino journey in America, how it has intersected, sometimes collided, with those of other communities, and how it has taken a dramatic turn as America enters a new era of anxiety and hope.” (pls. see next entry)

Moms and Kids Summer Treat

2008-05-06T08:12:00.002+08:00

We will be having another Moms and Kids Summer Treat on May 10, from 3 - 5 pm, this time at the newly renovated Powerbooks Megamall (Bldg A). As always, there will be a storytelling session and fun games for the kids (we're featuring Peachy Concepcion's Hold on Tight and Panch Alcaraz's 3 books in our Lola Basyang series). Panch will also conduct a 45-minute Basic Cartooning Workshop (for kids) for those budding artists out there.

And as a treat to those hardworking mothers out there, we will hold an Everyday Adobo Cooking Demo by renowned adobo chef Nancy Reyes of Cook Magazine, plus a Home Spa demo by expert Melissa Cruz, who will teach us how to make easy and very affordable masks and foot scrubs.

The event is open to the public, with no purchase requirement whatsoever. But, as an incentive to those who will buy any of our featured books, we will raffle off 2 beautiful Moulinex blenders (courtesy of our sponsor) and several subscriptions of Philippine Graphic magazine. Plus, there's free ice cream from Selecta! Just the perfect treat to beat the summer heat!

Registration starts at 3pm, but you can come earlier and take a look around the newly renovated Powerbooks. A word of advice though; you might want to refrain from wearing any orange-colored clothing. You might be mistaken as part of the wall design. ^_^ But other than that, Powerbooks is a great place to hang out, both for bookworms and not. So come one, come all! Bring your kids, nephews and nieces, neighbors, anyone! Have fun this Saturday and get a chance to win exciting prizes!

Oh, and did I mention the books are selling for 10% off? ^_^

Photo Op!

2008-04-09T13:12:00.007+08:00

Just some photos from our past events. We've been swamped with them since beginning of this year.

Karina David, Eleanor Laquian, Randy David and Prod Laquian during the launch of Seeking a Better Life Abroad: A Study of Filipinos in Canada on April 3 at NBS Bestsellers in Robinson's Galleria.

Ronald Baytan giving his Author's Remarks during the launch of The Queen Sings the Blues at Powerbooks Greenbelt 4 on February 2.

Elmer Cruz and Emerson Rosales promoting our sponsor's product during the press launch of their book Pulutan: From the Soldier's Kitchen on January 31 at Powerbooks Greenbelt (again!)

RJ Ledesma posing during the book launch of Lies My Yaya Should Have Told Me at NBS Rockwell on February 7.

Fr. James Reuter with Gwenn Galvez (Anvil Publishing), Louie Reyes (Reyes Publishing) and Ani Habulan (Anvil) during the launch of Mama Mary and Her Children at St. Paul's University - QC on February 9.

RJ Ledesma with Gary Lising and son Bugsy Lising during GL's launch at Powerbooks Megamall on April Fools' Day (we scheduled it on purpose).

Bart Guingona, Marco Rodriguez, Quintin Pastrana, Jay Liwanag and Edi Sian during the launching of their book Profiles Encourage at Powerbooks Greenbelt 4 on January 25.

Spend April Fools’ Day with Gary Lising!

2008-03-25T16:10:00.000+08:00

Celebrity comedian Gary Lising adds three new titles to his list of best-selling humor books, a compilation of the best jokes to have come in and out of this country the last 10 years. Confessions of a D.O.M. (Delightful Old Man), Lifestyles of the Poor and Unknown, and Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask Your Children, all published by Anvil Publishing, prove that Gary Lising is without doubt a comedian par excellence, an original who can come up with newly minted jokes at the expense of unsuspecting friends and colleagues. The new titles carry his signature wit and charm, making him stand out among Filipino comedians. Lising's panache for humor, says buddy Poch Borromeo of GNC LiveWell, is 'a rare gift of providence.'

Confessions of a D.O.M. (Delightful Old Man), Lifestyles of the Poor and Unknown, and Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask Your Children will be launched on April 1 (or April Fools’ Day), 5 – 7 pm, at Powerbooks Megamall A in Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City.

Join us in this one-of-a-kind event and have your copies signed by none other than Gary Lising himself! For inquiries you may contact the Anvil Marketing Department at 637-5692.

lamay para kay rene villanueva

2007-12-06T07:49:00.000+08:00

si rene (naka-pink na polo) kasama ang humahanga't nagmamahal sa kanyang mga manunulat (mula kaliwa): charlson ong, vim nadera, luis gatmaitan, rio alma, joey baquiran, rayvi sunico, carla pacis, isabel kenny

ang lamay para kay rene o. villanueva ay sa room 306 ng sanctuarium, araneta avenue cor. quezon avenue.

ang kanyang mga labi ay ililipat sa hardin ng mga diwata sa university of the philippines, diliman, quezon city sa sabado ng umaga (disyembre 8, 2007).

binilin ni rene na masaya dapat ang kanyang lamay. kung bibisita kayo sa kanya, magdala lamang ng mga alaalang masaya. huwag magbabaon ng lungkot.

rene o. villanueva, 53

2007-12-05T17:32:00.001+08:00

rene o. villanueva, palanca hall of fame awardee, toym awardee, well-loved children's book author and playwright and head writer of the pioneering children's tv show batibot passed away this afternoon, december 5, 2007.

please pray for the repose of his soul and for comfort for the loved ones left behind.

details of the wake/ tribute will be posted soon--it should be near the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, as that was his "bilin" to colleagues ( i was told).

pls. email me if you know of the family's plans, too.

thanks.

rene villanueva in icu

2007-12-03T10:50:00.000+08:00

update on rene, 12/04/07, a.m.

christine bellen texted last night to say she visited rene at the heart center. he's comatose.

i don't think it's a good idea to troop to the heart center since the ICU's visitor section can only hold a few people. will just rely on word from those who get to go there and will update this blog and paperbook alley so we all know what's happening with our dear rene.

please continue praying.

12/03/07, a.m.:

award-winning children's book author, playwright, fictionist and beloved teacher rene o. villanueva is currently at the philippine heart center's ICU.

dr. ligaya rubin of UP (via dr. luis gatmaitan's text) says he was brought to the hospital suffering from a regular seizure and was quickly revived by doctors. he's breathing through a respirator and is unconscious.

please pray that he'll get through this like he did several times before.

thanks. pls. ask friends for prayers.

anvil book sale

2007-11-28T13:15:00.000+08:00

Anvil Publishing
brings Christmas early to you!

Join us on our early Christmas book sale
from November 29 to December 9, 2007,
12 nn-6 pm (Mondays-Fridays), 9 am-5 pm (weekends & holidays).

Book finds for as low as P5.00 on selected children's books, cookbooks,
essay collections, fiction and non-fiction, humor, inspirational books,
references, self-help books, bestselling paperbacks and many more!

Visit us at our head office, 8007-B Pioneer St., Bgy Kapitolyo, Pasig City.

For inquiries call 637-3621, 637-5141 or 747-1624.

sorry

2007-10-31T08:37:00.000+08:00

we're very sorry for not updating this blog as religiously as we can. but please bear with us as this last quarter is proving to be very busy than usual. we promise to bring you much more interesting stuff from and by our beloved authors and artists, hopefully starting this christmas break. see you again soon!

Anvil Authors for SEPTEMBER 2007: Winners, all

2007-09-10T07:56:00.000+08:00

Anvil was just recognized Publisher of the Year (2006)—for the eighth time—by the prestigious Manila Critics Circle, and bagged important awards in various book categories. So for this month, we celebrate the books by these authors and editors who won the awards.

ANTHOLOGY
The Manila We Knew, edited by Erlinda Enriquez Panlilio

BIOGRAPHY / AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Beyond the Great Wall: A Family Journal, by Mario, Alma, Maningning and Banaue Miclat

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
Bad Kings, by Gilda Cordero Fernando

COOKBOOKS AND FOOD

The Governor-General’s Kitchen: Philippine Culinary Vignettes and Period Recipes, 1521-1935, by Felice Prudente Sta. Maria

Potluck, Hidalgo Bonding: A Family Heri tage Cookbook, edited by Jaime C. Laya and Adelaida Lim

JUAN C. LAYA AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Banyaga: A Song of War, by Charlson Ong

The Jupiter Effect, by Katrina Tuvera

SHORT FICTION
Maligayang Pagdating sa Sitio Catacutan: Mga Kuwentong Kasisindakan, Aklat 1 and

Malagim ang Gabi sa Sitio Catacutan: Mga Kuwentong Kasisindakan, Aklat 2, by Tony Perez

SPORTS

Pacific Storm: Dispatches on Pacquiao of the Philippines, by Recah Trinidad (Anvil and Inquirer Books)

BOOK DESIGN

The Governor-General’s Kitchen: Philippine Culinary Vignettes and Period Recipes, 1521-1935, by Felice Prudente Sta. Maria, designed by Guillermo Ramos

RIO replies

2007-08-23T10:09:00.000+08:00

Calling all RIO ALMA fanatics!

Anvil Author for August RIO ALMA replies to similar questions we asked his friends and fans about him. Find out interesting tidbits about the National Artist for Literature you won't ever find anywhere else.

1. A unique pen name you want to have.
"Ola Amar"

2. Whose blood relative do you wish to be?
Sa Tatay ko.

3. If Rio Almawere a food item or dish, what would he be? Why?
Penoy. Parang Pinoy, bugok pero hindi mabaho.

4. The best line you’ve ever written or said that you think others shamelessly use to impress/ get back at other people.
"Ok ka."

5. What color don’t you see yourself wearing? Why not?
Sori, lahat ng kulay isinusuot ko.

6. What’s a good title for a movie/TV series/book about your life?
Ang Kabagot-Bagot na Buhay ng Isang Makatang Pinoy

7. Do you have a “secret language” you know by heart?
Noon, alam ko ang wika ng mga kamay at daliri sa sabong pero nakalimutan ko na.

8. What gift would you want to receive on your next birthday?
Mas gusto kong magbigay ng regalo pag bertdey ko

9. What line/ verse/ poem (yours or others’) do you think best describes you?
Walang tatama sa akin.

10. What vacation spot would you go to if you need to just run away from your hectic schedule?
San Miguel, Bulacan

11. What’s your favorite literary work (yours and/or somebody else’s)?
Florante at Laura, Noli at Fili, at lahat ng tulang banyaga na isinalin ko

12. When did you last look into a mirror?
Isang minuto bago ko sagutin ang mga tanong na ito

13. Which movie/TV star do you think you resemble the most?
Kung minsan, si James Dean. Kung minsan, si Charles Chaplin. Kung minsan, si Dolphy.

So do you really know RIO ALMA?

2007-08-21T08:17:00.000+08:00

We asked a bunch of people random questions about Anvil Author for August, National Artist VIRGIILIO S. ALMARIO, to see how much more they know their beloved mentor and friend. Thanks a lot to Bobby, Vim, Gerry, and Becky for the very interesting replies.

1. A unique pen name you want Rio to have.
Bobby: “Berling” ang magandang pen name para kay Rio.
Vim: VSA or “Vierne S. Abado”

2. Do you wish you were Rio’s blood relative?
Bobby: No. Dakila din naman ako, at di ko na siya kailangang maging relative.
Vim: Think, think, think, think, think, think, think, think, think, think. (I was born on the Feast day of San Mario… that would mean… I’d end up as Mario Almario?) Think, think, think, think, think, think, think, think, think, think.
Gerry: Hindi ko ito nanaisin. Malayo kong kamaganak ang maybahay ni Sir Rio, pero hindi pa rin ako ligtas sa kanyang matalas na kritisismo. Sa totoo lang, kailangan kang lalong maging masipag at maingat.
Becky: Ay, ayaw. Nakaka-tense.

3. If Rio Alma were a food item or dish, what would he be to you? Why?
Bobby: Bikol express. Maanghang na maanghang, ha?
Vim: Ratatouille. Because the movie (with that title) made him laugh and cry at the same time.
Becky: Everlasting (luto ng nanay ko)––the name says it.

4. The best line written or said by Rio that you shamelessly use to impress/get back at people.
Bobby: “Dakila ka!”
Vim: (Expletives excluded?) “Maganda lang yata rito ay pamagat.”
Becky: To paraphrase him: “Ano ang magbubura sa ating pambansang gunita? Mawala na ang lahat, huwag lang ang wika.” (Sinasabi niya ito sa tuwing unang lektyur niya sa LIRA, at pag sineseryoso ko ang pakikinig, halos maluha pa rin ako, tulad noong unang beses na narinig ko siyang magsalita tungkol sa kasaysayan, panitikan, at wika.)

5. What color don’t you want to see Rio wearing? Why not?
Bobby: Pink. Baka mapagkamalan siyang bading.
Vim: White. He’d be like Ed Ocampo and Tito Eduque rolled into one. Just like a piece of lumpiang ubod on carbonara sauce.

6. What do you think will be a good title for a movie/TV series/book that will feature Rio’s life?
Bobby: Alindog ni Rio Alma
Vim: Case to case basis––
Kung horror, Mga Tiyanak ni Rio Alma
Kung historical, Rio Almanac
Kung fantasy, Mga Kagila-Gilalas na Pakikipagsapalaran ni Superio
Kung drama, Babangon Ako’t Paglilirahin Kita
Kung comedy, Ang Pagdadalaga ni Almaximo Oliverio
Kung action, Kapag Puno na ang Salop, Dapat Ka nang I-K.A.L.
Kung romantic, Naalma ang Buwan sa Haba ni Rio
Kung erotic, Ang Pinakamagandang Tula sa Balat ng Lumpia
Becky: Todo: May katas (o, di ba) hanggang ika-3 milenyo/milenyum

7. What secret language do you think Rio knows by heart?
Bobby: language of the Highlanders.
Vim: an underworld lingua franca
Gerry: Si Rio ay maalam sa Español. Sekretong conio boy siya.

8. What gift would you give Rio for his next birthday?
Bobby: Viagra at liposuction by Vicky Belo.
Vim: For a man who has everything? Time would be the best gift.
Becky: Di ko siya nireregaluhan.

9. What line/ verse/ poem that best describes Rio for you?
Bobby: Oriental.
Vim: Sayang at ipinagbawal ang alay na birhen./ At pansahog na lamang sa adobo ang laurel.

10. What vacation spot would you recommend Rio if he wants to run away from his hectic schedule?
Bobby: nudist camp
Vim: Rio de Janeiro?

11. What’s your favorite literary work by Rio?
Bobby: All his poetry books, except the first one.
Vim: Doktrinang Anakpawis. When I was still a student, I saw a man standing beside me in an overcrowded bus reading it during rush hour at dusk.

12. When did you last see Rio in person?
Bobby: Yesterday (August 8)
Vim: Yesterday (August 8), when classes were suspended due to the typhoon (that failed to show up). He treated us to lunch and a movie at Gateway Mall.

13. Which movie/TV star do you think resembles Rio the most?
Bobby: Wala
Vim: A toss-up between Edu Manzano and Jay Manalo. (Good thing the hardest question’s the last).
Becky: Leonardo Di CapRIO (eeww)

Slushpile Walker: British actor John Nettles of Midsomer Murders fame. Go ahead, Google him, or better yet, watch him on TV then congratulate me for noticing it.

Pahabol ni Bobby:
Fetish ni Rio or his favorite part of the female body, according to his poems: big boobs na tirik na tirik.

Bobby is Bobby Añonuevo. Award-winning poet and chairman of the Writers Union of the Philippines
Becky is Becky Añonuevo. Award-winning poet and author
Vim is Vim Nadera. Award-winning poet and director of UP Likhaan: Institute of Creative Writing
Gerry is Gerry Banzon. Poet and in his words, "Isa sa mga saksi sa simula ng LIRA (One of the witnesses of the birth of LIRA)"

VIRGILIO S. ALMARIO, Anvil Author for August 2007

2007-08-02T14:57:00.000+08:00

As a tribute to probably the most prolific writer in the country today and also to celebrate Buwan ng Wika, we are featuring National Artist VIRGILIO S. ALMARIO as Anvil Author for August 2007. Meet the man who has inspired writers and non-writers alike to re-read (and read further), rethink, and explore the exciting, terrifying, and wonderful world of Philippine literature.

VIRGILIO S. ALMARIO
Poet In The Midst Of Things
by Marne L. Kilates

from The National Artists of the Philippines 1999–2003, Volume 2
(Anvil and Cultural Center of the Philippines, 2003)

VIRGILIO S. ALMARIO, also known as Rio Alma, cuts a tall and controversial figure in contemporary Filipino literature. Born in the rural town of San Miguel in Bulacan, he first casts a public figure as a teacher in the locality’s public high school. Even then, he was already seeking others who shared the same interest in language by spending most of his Saturdays with poet friends at the University of the East, where he eventually enrolled in a Master’s course in Education.

It was during this time (1968) that the critic Bienvenido Lumbera spotted one of Almario’s anthologized works and cited it in an article entitled “Looking Back at the Future of Philippine Writing”, for Graphic (January 3, 1968). Writing back to Lumbera to thank him for the mention of his work (which started their long correspondence and friendship), Almario articulated what might be the original purpose of his writing: “…It was a great honor for our organization (KADIPAN) to be mentioned and recognized for our effort to bring the wind of rebellion against the constricting shroud of convention that presently envelops Filipino literature.” (Italics supplied)

Within two years Almario had published his two slim but seminal volumes, Makinasyon (Machination, 1968) and Peregrinasyon (Pilgrimage, 1970), wherein he first showed his unorthodox technique and use of language. The latter won a national award, but its most popular poem, “Elehiya sa Isang Rebelde” (Elegy for a Rebel), was voted down in a national contest for “Poet of the Year” and, in his own words “was used as pretext for a rally and subsequent organization of activist writers.” Almario had become a poet in the midst of things.

Martial law found him as a literature instructor at the Ateneo de Manila University and part-time teacher at the University of the Philippines (UP), and like many of his fellow activist-writers he went "underground". He re-merged in mid-1973 weakened by and old lung ailment, blacklisted by the military as a suspected communist, and barred from his teaching post in the University. At this time he organized in his apartment the first of his weekend workshops for young poets, the Galian sa Arte at Tula (GAT).

He managed to teach again, enrolled as a graduate student at UP, got elected as president of the newly revived UP Writers Club and editor of the Literary Apprentice, and went into editing and writing work. In 1977 he accepted a project to head the Nutrition Center of the Philippines’ publishing house for children’s books — his other devotion. This became the Children’s Communication Center, publisher of the famous Adarna Books series, and now one of the most successful publishing houses of children’s literature in the country.

Within two decades he had published his first six volumes of poetry, his first three books of literary history and criticism, edited literary anthologies, translated poetry and plays, written children’s stories and a manual of style in Tagalog, while maintaining a regular column in a national daily.

In 1984 he was awarded a TOYM (Ten Outstanding Young Men) for Literature and a year later started his term as chairman of the Writers’ Union of the Philippines, for which he has since been a moving presence even when younger writers had taken over the helm of the organization.

THE POETRY: PROSPECTING AND PROSECUTING THE FILIPINO CONSCIOUSNESS
Almario exemplifies the migrant literary consciousness that seeks to extract meaning from the complexity and conflicts of the largely unexplored Philippine pre-colonial heritage and written colonial history, while confronting the bitter and brutalizing forces of contemporary urban experience, and (now) the even newer exacerbation of globalization.
Makinasyon and Peregrinasyon in effect catapulted (together with the works of two other poets, Rogelio Mangahas and Lamberto Antonio) Tagalog poetry into the Modernist-Formalist movements of the 1960s. The two books took up the slack in the modernist trajectory of Tagalog poetry since Alejandro Abadilla’s “Ako ang Daigdig” which, while being a landmark, was also the last before it lurched to a stop.

Thus, while Alma was one of the leading poets of the First Quarter Storm who partook of the social consciousness and experience of political suppression in the poetry of Amado V. Hernandez, he also led the breakaway from the traditionalist poetics represented by the latter. So that when he published his first major collection, Doktrinang Anakpawis (Gospel of the Oppressed), the book was hailed by Lumbera as the "poetry book of the 1970s", while Teodoro Agoncillo proclaimed him as the legitimate successor of Hernandez.

From then on, the rest of his 10 poetry books (and eight critical and literary histories, and still counting), have continued to plumb unvisited depths and undiscovered territories of the Filipino imagination.

Doktrina is the first of a trilogy completed by Retrato at Rekwerdo (Images and Memory) and Muli sa Kandungan ng Lupa (Heartland). The first is the now acknowledged manifesto of what used to be called engagé or "committed" poetry, while Retrato, with the haunting and incantatory qualities of its poems, is a reprieve with the comforting sentiments of a Paradise Regained, even as it is a paradise that continues to be violated by a changing world. Muli not only revisits that paradise but also attempts a rigorous redefinition of it. Not only does it reawake pain and memory but also confronts the past that threatens to become an empty future, if no deep knowing is to be done.

In-between these landmark books, Almario provokes and challenges himself and us with his other collections that take us on expeditions into the exterior and interior territories of our consciousness, and by his deceptively light but satirical tweaks which are actually reinvention of meaning.

Again by their titles and themes we may glimpse their intents. The satirical Palipad Hangin (Words in the Wind) punctuates the break in his personal politics and his long running debate ("feud", he calls it) with his former colleagues from the Left. (A)lamat at (H)istorya (Legends and Histories), with its play of parentheses, suggests the thin lines between myth (and myth making) and reality. Katon sa Limang Pandama (Catechism for the Five Senses) alludes to the first instructional pamphlet of our institutionalized religion but also invites us to see things in a new light.

Mga Retaso ng Liwanag (Fragments of Light) again puts together for constant reexamination sundry items and remnants of experience and memory. Supot ni Judas (Judas’ Pouch) whose title takes off from one of a variety of Tagalog names for the constellation Taurus, to which the group of seven stars called Pleiades belongs (but whose visible number varies depending on which part of the world you are looking from), again invites us to different manners of seeing.

Always, Almario induces and inveigles us into these inward and outward journeys. His voices are lyric, satiric and epic, and what Isagani Cruz calls the ‘semi-epic introspection’ of his long, sonorous poems. His influences range from Balagtas to Whitman, Corazon de Jesus to Yeats, Lorca and Eliot, from the French Impressionists and Existentialists to the Marxists and Social Realists, the Spanish and South American Magic Realists.

The destinations of his vigorous and itinerant mind are beyond the merely aesthetic, because both his method and instinct are those of an intense examiner, insistent prospector and prosecutor of the Filipino consciousness, whose purpose is to discover what it is to be Filipino. Adrian Cristobal comments that reading Almario is always like going on an “internal tour of Philippine history.”

While he continues to examine the soil of our consciousness, unearthing and polishing gems from it, he opens himself and us to universal and contemporary experience, taking us along the twists and turns of his literary wanderlust, into the ever-expanding universe of his imagination.

THE CRITICAL WORKS: VIGOR AND RIGOR IN EXAMINING THE FILIPINO TEXT
Despite the separate personas he assigns to the authorship of his poetic and critical works, Almario’s poetry and criticism are inextricably linked. His poetry is informed by his search for what many demur as the impossible: the finding of the true Filipino poetics; his criticism and research aspire towards the construction and codification of a Fililpino literary theory, in spite and perhaps because of his long apprenticeship in Western modes and techniques.
Lumbera reminds us that it was Almario who put the word kritisismo in the Filipino language. Early in the first decade of his writing he produced his first collection of essays on literary theory, Ang Makata sa Panahon ng Makina (The Poet in the Age of the Machine). He had embarked on a relatively new course in modern Tagalog poetry. The journeyman poet was becoming a master, a poet acutely conscious of his poetics. Taking instruction from T.S. Eliot’s Tradition and the Individual Talent; the poet had also become scholar and critic. He was charting his own territory beyond the confines of “social realism” by returning to and reexamining the native tradition, chronicling his links and breaks with it, while continuing his own encounters with modern and global literature.

Makata has since been followed by Walong Dekada ng Makabagong Tulang Pilipino (Eight Decades of Modern Tagalog Poetry), a critical anthology that demonstrates the sweep of his scholarly gaze, from his elders to his contemporaries. Balagtasismo Versus Modernismo (Balagtasism Versus Modernism) defines and maps what Almario considers as the two main and often conflicting directions in Tagalog poetry, and the book has since become an academic landmark. Jose Corazon de Jesus, Mga Piling Tula (Selected Poems of Jose Corazon de Jesus) is a selection of the works with critical biography of the foremost romantic poet of the pre-war “golden age” of Tagalog poetry.
Taludtod at Talinghaga (Verse and Metaphor), a technical codification of traditional Tagalog prosody, is now an almost indispensable text in Tagalog poetics. Kung Sino ang Kumatha kina Bagongbanta, Ossorio, Herrera, Aquino de Belen, Balagtas, Atbp. (Who Created Bagongbanta…) traces native literary tradition and its struggle against the impositions of Spanish colonization.

Panitikan ng Rebolusyon(g 1896) (Literature of the Revolution[of 1896]) is a close re-reading of the works of Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Jacinto as the two other (forgotten) landmarks of Filipino nationalist and revolutionary literature, apart from those of Francisco Balagtas’ and Jose Rizal’s. Mutyang Dilim for the first time demonstrates the use of Almario’s proposed New Filipino Formalism as basis for the close reading of 20 contemporary Filipino poets.

In all this, Almario has exerted his undiminished vigor of mind and rigor of scholarship to an extent largely unsurpassed by his contemporaries. And accordingly he has left a lasting, perhaps indelible, imprint on the continuing examination and re-examination of the Filipino text.

THE POET AS MENTOR, PUBLISHER, CULTURAL PROPAGATOR
Energy begets generosity. An abundance of the former engenders a hunger to share. But is a generosity without bias, in fact strict and demanding in its desire to instruct. Thus, Almario’s literary vision not just manifests in his writing but extends to his other vocations: mentoring, spotting the rough literary talent and helping to polish it by critical motivation and encouragement, publishing and general advocacy for culture.

Within and outside academe, in journalism, publishing and cultural management, Almario has made his presence felt. He has been regular member of the teaching staff of UP Writers Workshop, director of the UP Sentro ng Wikang Filipino, conceptualizer and editor-in-chief of the watershed UP Diksiyonaryong Filipino (2001), and director of the UP Likhaan: Institute of Creative Writing (formerly Creative Writing Center).

He has been executive director and editor of the Adarna Books series published by his Children’s Communication Center, founding secretary-general of the Philippine Board of Books on Young People (PBBY), publisher-editor of the defunct Diyaryo Filipino (the first broadsheet in Filipino) and Filipino Magazin, chairman of the Writers’ Union of the Philippines (later Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas, UMPIL) which published the Mithi literary anthologies, founding member of the Manila Critics Circle that gives the annual National Book Awards and former executive director of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).

Almario’s other devotion, children’s literature, runs parallel to his writing. Aklat Adarna, after the mythical bird, is the first comprehensive children’s book series ever developed in the Philippines. It rekindled interest in children’s literature by other writers, illustrators and publishers, spawning similar efforts and thus increasing not only published children’s books but those engaged in its production: professional children’s writers and illustrators.

The book program earned the approbation of educators and social workers, becoming part of the country’s Early Childhood Enrichment Program implemented under the auspices of the then Department of Social Welfare and Development and the UNICEF, while public and private elementary schools made Adarna books indispensable to their library collections. In his involvement with this pioneering program, Almario also became one of the prime movers in developing educational television for children, through the introduction of the Philippine version of Sesame Street.
Early in his career in the late 1970s, Almario started the now famous Galian sa Arte at Tula (GAT, or Workshop on Art and Poetry). Displaced from a teaching position by martial law, Almario spotted and gathered young potential writers in weekend marathon sessions where they submitted and critiqued their own works under his instructive supervision. The product of these sessions was a series of Galian anthologies of poetry, plays and stories.

Later in the 1980s, Almario took under his wing even younger batches of aspiring writers. He established LIRA or Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika at Anyo (Center for Image, Rhetoric and Form). The weekend sessions, which continue up to the present, are conducted under a concept of a poetry clinic, devoted exclusively to poetry and the meticulous study of the traditional and contemporary modes and techniques of the craft.

MAN OF LETTERS, MAN OF DEEDS
His words shape his actions. Almario, after Alejandro Abadilla, is the first truly engaged modern poet in Tagalog and in the continually evolving Filipino national language that he champions. This championing has taken the form not of mere rhetoric or precious meager literary output, but of a lifetime of practice — in his prodigious poetic work, in his criticism, in his journalism, lexicography and technical writing, in his advocacy and organizational work — all conducted in the Filipino language.

Whatever stage of evolution this language has reached, it owes in no small part to his practice, as he believes that no language can develop, let alone survive, if no one writes in it. And he proposes and proves, among other things, that the Filipino language is as capable as any, with and in spite of, the present paucity of readership, in expressing with richness and sophistication, with technical rigor and creative opulence, the native and global Filipino intellect and imagination.

Almario’s own personal development signifies and exemplifies the complex and authentic experience of Filipino literature, as it examines and validates its own heritages, as it continues to confront present realities, as it looks with vigor and courage towards the future. A vigor and courage that owes no little to this man’s work. And a future where language, literature and art can truly claim meaning and function as nourishment for the Filipino soul.

SELECTED WORKS

POETRY
Ang Hayop na Ito, 2004Estremelenggoles: Bakit ang Dami Nang Gamot, Dumadami pa ang Sakit?, 2004
Sari-Sari: Mga Tula Para sa Mag-aaral, 2004
Sentimental: Mga Tula ng Pag-ibig, Lungkot, at Paglimot, 2004
Supot ni Hudas, 2002
Una Kong Milenyum (Collected Poems, Two Volumes), 1998
Muli, Sa Kandungan ng Lupa, 1994
Mga Retaso ng Liwanag, 1990
Katon Para sa Limang Pandama, 1987
Rio Alma, Selected Poems 1968-1985 (Bi-Lingual Selection), 1987
(A)lamat at (H)istorya, 1986 and 2002
Palipad-Hangin, 1985
Retrato at Rekwerdo, 1984
Doktrinang Anakpawis, 1979
Biyahe sa Timog at iba pang Tula, 1977
Peregrinasyon, 1970
Makinasyon, 1968

LITERARY CRITICISM
Pag-unawa sa Ating Pagtula: Pagsusuri at Kasaysayan ng Panulaang Filipino, 2006
Florante at Laura, 2003
Barlaan at Josaphat, 2003
Mutyang Dilim, 2001
Poetikang Tagalog: Mga Pagsusuri sa Sining ng Pagtulang Tagalog, 1996
Si Tandang Basiong Macunat: Salitang Quinatha ni Fray Lucio Bustamante, 1996
Panitikan ng Rebolusyon(g 1896), 1993
Kung Sino ang Kumatha kina Bagongbanta, Ossorio, Herrera, Aquino de Belen, Balagtas, Atbp., 1992
Taludtod at Talinghaga, 1st ed., 1985; 2nd ed., 1991
Balagtasismo Versus Modernismo, 1984
Ang Makata sa Panahon ng Makina, 1972

LANGUAGE
Tradisyon at Wikang Filipino, 1998
Filipino ng mga Filipino: Mga Asterisko sa Istandard ng Ispeling, Estilo ng Pagsulat, at Paraan ng Pagpapayaman sa Wikang Pambansa, 1993

ESSAYS
Pacto de Sangre, 2003
Bulacan: Lalawigan ng Bayani at Bulaklak, 2000
Kalahating Siglo sa Ibabaw ng Mundo at Kataka-takang Alaala’t Engkuwentro, 1988

POETRY ANTHOLOGY (as editor)
Sansiglong Mahigit ng Makabagong Tula sa Filipinas, 2006
Ikatlong Bagting, 2003
Sa Dakong Silangan: Si Jose Corazon de Jesus, 1995
Jose Corazon de Jesus: Ilang Piling Taludtod, 1994
Parikala, 1990
Ang Panggingera at mga Piling Tula ni Lope K. Santos, 1990
Turtle Voices in Uncertain Weather by Alfredo Navarro Salanga, 1989 (also as co-translator)
Makabagong Tinig ng Siglo, 1989
Jose Corazon de Jesus, Mga Piling Tula, 1984
Galian: Mga Akda sa Panahon ng Krisis, 1983
Walong Dekada ng Makabagong Tulang Pilipino, 1981

TRANSLATIONS
JB (Archibald MacLeish’s Job), 2002
Noli Me Tangere, (Jose Rizal), 1999
El Filibusterismo, (Jose Rizal), 1999
Manuel Sityar: Rebolusyong Filipino (Manuel Sityar’s Memorias Intimas [1896-1898], 1998
Dakilang Tinig ng Dakilang Awit (Lilia Hernandez Chung’s Jovita Fuentes: A Lifetime of Music), 1995
Sentimiento (Gemma Cruz Araneta’s Sentimiento: A Collection of Fiction and Essays), 1995
Mga Bacchae (Euripides’ Bacchae), 1992
Mga Bakasyonista (Maxim Gorki’s Summer Folks), 1990
Kabalikat sa Kalayaan (Teodoro M. Kalaw’s Aide de Camp to Freedom), 1986

TEXTBOOKS/REFERENCES
UP Diksiyonaryong Filipino, 2001
Patnubay sa Pagsasalin, 1996 and 2003
Bumasa at Lumaya: A Sourcebook on Children’s Literature in the Philippines (with Maria Elena Paterno and Ramon C. Sunico), 1994
Patnubay sa Masinop na Pagsulat, 1980

* * * * * * * * *

FAST FACTS: VIRGILIO S. ALMARIO

Full Name: Virgilio S. Almario
Literary name: Rio Alma
Nickname: Rio
Birthday: March 9, 1944
Birthplace: Camias, San Miguel, Bulacan
Spouse: Emelina Soriano
Children: Asa Victoria, Ani Rosa, Agno

Works published by Anvil:

POETRY
Ang Hayop na Ito, 2004
Estremelenggoles: Bakit ang Dami Nang Gamot, Dumadami pa ang Sakit?, 2004
Sari-Sari: Mga Tula Para sa Mag-aaral, 2004
Sentimental: Mga Tula ng Pag-ibig, Lungkot, at Paglimot, 2004

LITERARY CRITICISM
Pag-unawa sa Ating Pagtula: Pagsusuri at Kasaysayan ng Panulaang Filipino, 2006

POETRY ANTHOLOGY (as editor)
Sansiglong Mahigit ng Makabagong Tula sa Filipinas, 2006

TEXTBOOKS/REFERENCES
UP Diksiyonaryong Filipino, 2001

Major Awards:
• National Artist for Literature, 2003
• SEA Write Award, 1989
• Talaang Ginto Poet of the Year, 1984
• TOYM Award for Literature, 1983
• Numerous Palanca, CCP Literary and other writing awards

last time we checked: Christine Bellen

2007-07-27T15:17:00.000+08:00

CHRISTINE with former student and now fellow ateneo teacher
and industry colleague--comic book creator and artist ELBERT OR

the last time we checked, CHRISTINE S. BELLEN is sort of oic/head honcho at the Filipino Department at the Ateneo. she also just finished writing BATANG RIZAL for PETA (Philippine Educational Theater Association).

BATANG RIZAL tells of sixth-grader Pepito who accidentally breaks the head of a statue of the young Jose Rizal, given to the school by the City Mayor as a gift during the Buwan ng Wika celebrations. Pepito has a week to return the statue, and when he mournfully goes to the storeroom to check on it, he finds himself in Calamba, the hero’s hometown.

The play takes the audience from the present to the past, to a time when Jose Rizal was a boy called Pepe, and then back again to Pepito's time as the two boys experience life in each other’s era. Along the way, they discover that patriotism and heroism can be found even in an ordinary child’s heart.

This 40th Theater Season offering is directed by Dudz Terana, with music by Vince de Jesus and animation by Don Salubayba and the Anino Shadow Collective. Batang Rizal runs July 19-August 25 at the Tanghalang PETA-Phinma of the PETA Theater, with performances at 10:00 am and 3pm.

The play features Ron Alfonso, Nex Agustin, JK Anicoche, Glecy Atienza, Bernah Bernardo, Joan Bugcat, Nar Cabico, Willy Casero, Abner Delina, Mary Ann Espinosa, Neomi Gonzales, JV Katipunan, Patricia Liwanag, Shé Maala, Carlon Matobato, Kitchie Pagaspas, Norbs Portales, Ian Segarra and Gold Villar. Set design is by Bobot Lota, Costume by Ron Ryan Alfonso.

For inquiries and ticket reservations, call the PETA Marketing and Public Relations Office at 7256244, 4100821 to 22, 0918-9354166, 0917-8154567. E-mail mpr@petatheater.com or petampro@yahoo.com, or visit www.petatheater.com. Season subscriptions are also available for only PhP1,000.

christine, star-struck

2007-07-27T15:02:00.001+08:00

ANVIL JULY AUTHOR CHRISTINE S. BELLEN hobnobs with personalities: (top left) she joins the young singing group SugarPop and anvil's ani vh. (top right) she joins actress Manilyn Reynes and young Paolo Salas at the press conference for GMA-7's Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang tv series.

(above) she lines up to get National Artist F. Sionil Jose's autograph and throws away any hint of shyness when she asked to be photographed with him at the first Read-or-Die Convention, February 2007.

The Lola Basyang Gang

2007-07-17T11:31:00.000+08:00

Meet one of Christine S. Bellen’s creative posses

Ang Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang ni Severino Reyes series of picture books for children gave Anvil important recognition from the book industry, including a Special Citation from the Manila Critics Circle and inspired other individuals and groups to adapt the stories made famous by an unforgettable character lovingly called Lola Basyang into other creative endeavors like a theatrical play and a television program.

This project brought together Anvil and a talented young writer, Christine S. Bellen, who in turn, introduced us to a truly original and creative force of children’s book illustrators. Here they are

Frances “Panch” C. Alcaraz is an award-winning artist who wrote and illustrated The Lost Necklace and Broken Eggs that were published in Japan and translated into different languages. For the Lola Basyang picture book series of Anvil, she illustrated Ang Mahiwagang Biyulin, Ang Prinsipe ng mga Ibon, and the forthcoming Ang Kapatid ng Tatlong Marya. She currently teaches at the Ateneo. Visit her website: www.panchinyourhead.tk

Liza A. Flores has already illustrated eight books, including the award-winning Chenelyn! Chenelyn! She was president of the premier group of Philippine children’s book illustrators, Ang Ilustrador ng Kabataan (Ang I.N.K.) from 2004 to 2006. She illustrated Ang Prinsipeng Mahaba ang Ilong, the forthcoming Sultan Saif, and Rosamistica, which was a finalist in the Gintong Aklat Awards. Liza now manages a design studio called Studio Dialogo. Visit her website: www.liza.ph

Hubert B. Fucio won the 2003 PBBY-Alcala Illustrator’s Prize for Sandosenang Kuya. He also illustrated Si Pagong at si Matsing. He loves illustrating children’s art for the Learn and Play Preschool. Hubert also plays the guitar and teaches a youth choir. The forthcoming Anting-Anting is the first Lola Basyang book he’s illustrated for Anvil. He’s also the illustrator of a forthcoming collection of children’s verses by Lara Saguisag.

Albert E. Gamos is a book designer and illustrator. He was recognized in 1992 by the Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PBBY) for his contribution to children’s literature. His illustrations for the book, Pandaguan, The First Man Who Died, won as runner-up in the 9th Noma Concours for Picture Book Illustrations in Japan. For Anvil’s Lola Basyang series, he illustrated Ang Plautin ni Periking, Si Pandakotyong and the forthcoming Ang Palasyo ng mga Duwende.

Ruben “Totet” De Jesus is one of the founding members and later president of Ang I.N.K. His book, Ang Mahiyaing Manok, won an Encouragement Prize in the 2000 Noma Concours in Japan as well as runner-up at the New York Showcase Exhibition of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). Another book, Ang mga Anak ng Araw, won for him an Encouragement Prize at the 2002 Noma Concours. He illustrated Ang Alamat ng Lamok, Ang Prinsipeng Duwag and the forthcoming Ang Pitong Tanga for Anvil’s Lola Basyang books. He is a faculty member of the UP College of Fine Arts and is currently the chairman of the PBBY.

Elbert T. Or graduated with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from the Ateneo where he currently teaches. He is a member of Ang I.N.K. and the creator of the comic books Siglo: Freedom, Cherry Blossom High, Cast and Two Color Truth, among others. He illustrated Ang Parusa ng Duwende and Ang Binibining Tumalo sa Hari for Anvil’s Lola Basyang series. Visit his blog: best viewed with eyes wide open

CHRISTINE S. BELLEN, Anvil Author for July 2007

2007-06-29T16:46:00.000+08:00

In celebration of Philippine children's literature, especially commemorated this month via the National Children's Book Day, we are featuring CHRISTINE S. BELLEN, considered the contemporary authority on the well-loved children's stories of Lola Basyang. Christine studied the stories up close in university and continues to enjoy reading, researching on, and developing programs about them to this day. Besides writing and reading, she is also an avid swimmer and a fan of good food and great music. She was recently given the Gawad Plumang Asul by the Ateneo de Manila University and a Parish Youth Achievement Award by her parish in Malabon where she hails from.

Christine teaches Philippine Literature subjects and is the current OIC Chair of the Filipino Department at the Ateneo. She is the story consultant of the TV show Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang aired every Sunday on GMA-7. She is also very busy penning plays and books as well as writing conference papers to deliver here and abroad.

Anvil bugged her to answer several questions about Lola Basyang, her writing, and the lighter side of her hectic everyday.

ANVIL (A): Why did you choose Severino Reyes’s Lola Basyang as your thesis in college? Did your interest in Reyes’s stories start when you were still a child?
CHRISTINE S. BELLEN (CSB):
Interesado na ako sa mga kuwento ni Lola Basyang simula pa noong bata ako. Nung MA sa University of the Philippines (UP), gumawa ako ng paper on feminist reading sa mga babaeng tauhan ng mga kuwento. Sa MA thesis, dahil gusto kong mag-Panitikang Pambata, iminungkahi ni Prop. Luna Sicat-Cleto na ipagpatuloy ko ang paper ko sa klase ng tatay niyang si Rogelio Sicat dahil nagustuhan nito ang paper ko. Doon uli ako nagsimulang maging interesado para pag-aralan ang mga kuwento.

(I was always interested in the stories of Lola Basyang since I was a kid. When I was studying for my MA at the UP, I wrote a paper on feminist reading about the female characters in the stories. In my MA thesis, since I wanted to pursue Children’s Literature, Prof. Luna Sicat-Cleto advised me to expand my paper in one of the classes under her father, the late Rogelio Sicat, because he liked it. It was then that my interest for the stories was rekindled.)

A: Have you read all the 500-plus Lola Basyang stories?
CSB: Hindi ko pa natatapos basahin lahat. (No, I haven't read them all yet.)

A: How did you choose which stories to retell for the Ang Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang series?
CSB: Isang buong papel ito kaya iiklian ko na lang. Una, malay ako na ikukuwento ko ito para sa mga bata. Mula Grade 1-6 at picture-book format. Ikalawa, ipapakilala ko uli ang mga kuwento at mahalaga sila dahil klasiko kaya kailangan kong hindi maging masyadong radikal sa mga muling pagsasalaysay. Ibig sabihin, gusto ko pa ring ipakilala ang tono, hagod at paraan ng pagkukuwento ni Severino Reyes kaya naging maingat ako sa muling pagsasalaysay. Ikatlo, hindi nawala ang boses ng storyteller kaya makikita sa umpisa, gitna o minsan huli ng kuwento na may interbensyon pa rin ng tagapagkuwento. Sa orihinal kasi, nagsisimula lagi sa kuwento muna nina Lola Basyang at ng kanyang mga apo.

(I can write a full-length paper on this so I’ll make it short. First, I have always envisioned the stories as meant to be told to children. In my mind they are written for students in Grades 1–6, and in picture-book format. Second, I am to reintroduce the stories which are considered classics and make sure my retellings are not too radical. This means that I still want to show the original tone, rhythm, and style of storytelling by Severino Reyes, that’s why I was very careful in retelling the stories. Third, the storyteller’s voice was not lost that’s why a reader will still see the storyeteller’s intervention in the beginning, middle or end of every story. In the original, the main stories were always preceded by stories about Lola Basyang and her grandchildren.)

A: Which Lola Basyang character can you most identify with? Given a chance, is there any particular story from the collection you would wish to be in? CSB:
Nakaka-identify ako sa mga weird, malungkot, at ultra-romantic na mga tauhan pero dun sa mga tauhan na gusto kong maging, gusto ko pa rin ang happy ending.

(I can easily identify with weird, sad, and ultra-romantic characters, but of the characters I wish to be, I still want a happy ending for them.)

A: What kind and intensity of appeal do you think folk tales—like Lola Basyang’s—have to today’s generation of readers? Aren’t old stories too outdated for this age of high technology?
CSB: Kaya pa rin nitong taglayin ang mga usapin, siste at kuwento sa anumang panahon dahil karamihan nga rito ay pantasya kaya hindi problema na baka hindi na siya magugustuhang basahin sa kasalukuyan. May mga salita minsan na outdated at archaic pero hindi naman ito sagabal kung gusto mo talagang kilalanin ang mga kuwento. Maaari naman ding maiangkop na ito sa kasalukuyan sa pamamagitan ng muling pagsasalaysay.

(Folk tales can carry the issues, wit, and narratives prevalent in any period since most of them are in the fantasy mold. I see no problem with new generations not enjoying them. Of course there are outdated and archaic terms, but they are not major blocks, especially if a reader is committed in his/her reading of them. They can also be adapted to the present through retelling.)

A: How did you find the experience of being a consultant for the Lola Basyang television show? How is being a TV show consultant different from writing your own retellings for a book project and from writing for a play?
CSB: Sa akin nagmumula ang mga kuwento na ipalalabas sa TV linggu-linggo. Para rin itong storyline na isinasubmit ko, pero hindi ako ang nagsusulat ng script. Ngunit ang iba sa mga kuwento ay kailangan ko nang muling isalaysay para umangkop sa TV. Sila na lamang ang nagpapalaman sa plot, ang mga visual effects at dialogue. Marami rin akong natututunan sa mga writers ng Basyang tungkol sa paano nila bubuhayin ang mga kuwento sa TV. Sa aklat at play, ako ang nagsulat. Sa play, sumulat ako ng mga lyrics para awitin ng mga tauhan ng kuwento, kakaiba ring karanasan.

(The [Lola Basyang] stories shown on TV all come from me. I write the storylines but someone else writes the script. The difference is that I need to write them within the parameters of television [production]. The rest of the elements—revision of plot, visual effects, dialogue—are taken care of by the program’s pool of writers. I have learned a lot from the TV writers on how to make the stories come alive on TV. In books and plays, I write the texts myself. I even wrote the lyrics of songs for the characters in the play. It’s a different, exciting experience.)

A: Who are your favorite authors? Who or what are your major writing influences and inspiration?
CSB: Jose Rizal, Rene Villanueva, Gilda Cordero-Fernando, Tony Perez, Dr. Luis Gatmaitan, Bien Noriega, Rogelio Sicat, Jun Cruz Reyes, Roland Tolentino, Luna Sicat-Cleto, Rogelio Sicat, Danton Remoto, Vince Groyon, Alvin Yapan, F. Sionil Jose, Becky Bravo, Roald Dahl, Astrid Lindgren, Philip Pullman, Ursula Le Guin, Edgar Allan Poe, Tolkien, J.K. Rowlings, Babette Cole, Kevin Henkes, Karen Hesse, Dr. Seuss, Shel Silverstein, Pablo Neruda, Rilke, Arundhati Roy, Bulbul Sharma, Yasunari Kawabata, Salman Rushdie, Paolo Coelho, Gavin Menzie, Sam McBratney, Robert Munsch, marami pang iba na hindi ko maalala (a lot more I can’t remember now)…

Major writing influences: Astrid Lindgren, Rene Villanueva, Roald Dahl

A: Any memorable encounter with fans?
CSB: May isang bata na paborito niya ang mga aklat ko. Hindi siya makapaniwala na nakita niya ako ng personal tapos sabi niya sa nanay niya: "I thought she's old and dead!"

(There was this kid who loved my [Lola Basyang] books. He couldn’t believe it when he saw me in person. He turned to her mom and said, “I thought she’s old and dead!”)

A: Are we going to see more Lola Basyang stories in print in the near future? CSB: May 5 bagong picture books ngayong 2007 at may isinulat akong classroom plays ng Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang.

(There will be 5 new picture books that Anvil will release this year. I have also just finished classroom plays on the Lola Basyang stories.)

* * *

FAST FACTS: CHRISTINE S. BELLEN

Full Name: Christine Siu Bellen
Literary name: Christine S. Bellen
Nickname: Chris, Tin, Chin
Birthday: December 24
Works published by Anvil: • Ang Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang ni Severino Reyes (illustrated retellings of the stories of Lola Basyang):

Ang Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang ni Severino Reyes (anthology/ student's pocket edition)

Other Works:
Picture books:

Og Uhog (Lampara Books)
Filemon Mamon (Adarna Books)

Illustrated anthology:

Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang (Tahanan Books)

Children's Plays by PETA:

Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang
Batang Rizal

Awards: • Honorable Mention, 2000 and 2004 PBBY Salanga Writers Prize • Special Citation, National Book Awards, Manila Critics Circle • Nominations, 2002 and 2004 National Book Awards, Manila Critics Circle • Award, 2006 Gawad Plumang Asul, Ateneo • Parish Youth Leader Achievement Award, Malabon parish

Grants: • Asia Pacific Youth Forum (Japan Foundation) • Barlaya Writing for Children Workshop • Kritika (De La Salle University) • PANULAT

Web Page: www.moonfairy.tk

Favorite Lines from a Book:
(CSB: Sa concern ko ngayon, ito ang paborito ko [Considering my current concerns, this is my favorite].) "Waiting is the most difficult part because it is hard to stay attentive all the time. But we must be calm and never take our eyes off the horizon." – Rama in the Ramayana

(CSB: Pakiramdam ko, lumalakas ako sa linyang ito, lagi [I feel that I always gain strength and empowered because of this line].) "May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks." – Gandalf in The Hobbit by Tolkien

* * *

5 Random Questions for Christine S. Bellen

What literary character did/do you have a crush on?
Wala akong maalala kasi si Josh Groban lang talaga ang ultimate crush ko haha.
(I can’t think of anyone because Josh Groban is my ultimate crush.)

Name at least 3 books from your current personal reading list. Tinatapos ko ang (I’m reading) 1421 by Gavin Menzies; babasahin ko pa lang ang (I am about to read) The Scarecrow and His Servant by Philip Pullman, Invisible Lives by Anjalee Banarjee, Eragon by Christopher Paolini, and Prince of Ayodhya by Banker

What’s your fantasy pen name? Secret.
(Hey, no fair!)

Do you watch the film version of a book? Yes.

Do you remove the price stickers on purchased books? Minsan oo, minsan hindi. Basta hindi ko binabasa ang mga books ko kapag walang plastic cover. (Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. But I don’t read my books unless they’re covered in plastic wrap.)

Christine's photo: © by IRWIN CRUZ

Welcome to Anvil's Author Central

2007-06-21T09:20:00.000+08:00

Meet Anvil Publishing's award-winning, awesome authors! Watch out for these features:

AUTHOR OF THE MONTH: Every month, we will feature one of our authors and talk with them about their writing life, their ongoing and upcoming projects and other interesting stuff about them you won't find anywhere else.

AUTHOR FAST FACTS: Contain basic information, updates, and trivia about your favorite Anvil authors. A great reference and peek into the literary stylings of Pinoy writers!

ROUNDTABLES: An online Q&A celebrating books, writing and reading, and discussions about the writing and reading lives of Anvil authors.

anvil publishing's AUTHOR CENTRAL

Anvil winners at the 28th National Book Awards

Major wins at the 28th National Book Awards (for books published in2008)!

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AMANDO DORONILA (Afro-Asia in Upheaval)

ADELAIDA LIM et al (Cafe by the Ruins)

BINO REALUYO (The Gods We Worship Live Next Door)

NICK DEOCAMPO (Sine Gabay)

ANVIL also won Publisher of the Year (9 glorious times now!).

What a shower of blessings! Read full list of winners via Dr. Isagani R. Cruz's blog

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The Lola Basyang Gang

CHRISTINE S. BELLEN, Anvil Author for July 2007

Welcome to Anvil's Author Central

Major wins at the 28th National Book Awards (for books published in
2008)!