i posted this last night in my other blog. i figured i should post it here, too. it's mostly about writers and my happy day. so here it is.
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i woke up at 5:30 because i had to be at pasay city by 9 this morning. this was part of my duties for the annual literary festival, pistang panitik. the festival was a side-activity of the manila international book fair, which was held at the smx covention center in the mall of asia complex.
today, i moderated quite an interesting discussion on blogging literature. the panelists were dean alfar, sonny villafania, vic nierva, marne kilates, and vlad gonzales. the panelists spoke with authority and a lot of insight and helpful suggestions. and the open forum was made livelier by this woman in a striped sweater who, after about two minutes of lucidity, started to go bonkers while at the microphone. interrupting her without being offensive took some doing, but i think i was able to pull it off. what made it even more interesting for me was the fact that she just vanished after i segued to the next person with a question for the panelists.
after the discussion, vlad and i went to the mall of asia for lunch. i was happy that vlad blurted out pho hoa when i asked him where he wanted to eat because i had been imagining vegetarian noodle soup as soon as we started walking to the mall. and since i am too much of a quezon city boy and had never been to the mall of asia (except for the quick merienda i took in between pistang panitik discussions last friday), he showed me around the mall. we spent the afternoon looking at and buying food--two boxes of krispy kreme glazed doughnuts, two boxes of brownies/cookies/revel bars from this baked goods stall, and hot chocolate for vlad and mango juice for me. we also looked at shoes and voodoo dolls and books. at national bookstore i ended up buying vlad's latest book, isang napakalaking kaastigan, which he autographed for me at seattle's best. we also looked at the sea, which was blinding since it was a sunny, sunny day.
on the bus ride back to quezon city, vlad and i talked and talked and talked. just when our conversation drifted to pokwang, elizabeth ramsey, and eugene domingo, a woman handed us brochures for bank loans of up to a million pesos. since she was very nice and polite, we didn't mind the interruption. actually, vlad being vlad, interviewed her for a bit. this, of course, got me slightly nervous (a giddy kind of nervous; half of me wanted him to behave and the other half hoped he didn't) because you never know what vlad will say. the guy's always nice and friendly, but his imagination's crazy, and he has this tendency to just blurt things out. luckily for all of us, it all went smoothly.
the bus ride was interrupted only when the cute little boy seated in front of us had to take a leak. the kind, butch lesbian bus conductor had the driver pull over, so she could help the kid off the bus for a bit to pee on the sidewalk. so, okay, maybe this wasn't hygienic, but i found it amusing. and the smile on the kid's face as he skipped back to his seat was so sunny, anyone would've forgiven him for causing a bit of delay.
after saying goodbye to vlad whose back had started to hurt because of the long day, i got off at my stop near mcdonald's. i bought salted duck eggs at rustan's express before hailing a tricycle to take me home.
and now i'm waiting for dinner, which my sister promised will be my favorite, vegetarian adobo and guinataang munggo. the salted duck eggs will go nicely with that--a happy ending to a happy day.
Showing posts with label pistang panitik. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pistang panitik. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
today at pistang panitik
as i have been a regular participant at the manila international book fair (of which pistang panitik is a side activity), i am no longer surprised at the number of friends, literary stars, and celebrities one can see in a day at the fair. and today proved to be no different.
it was all about pop lit today at pistang panitik. i emceed the event, and i was amazed by the talent of the featured artists. today's session at stage area 1 featured storytellers from alitaptap storytellers philippines (madz, ethel, and franky), puppeteers from teatrong mulat with their founder amelia lapena-bonifacio, violinist jonathan livioco of the u.p. college of music, poets/rappers from tribu (young scent, lil coli, raynoa, and o.g sacred who are featured in the jim libiran film, tribu), and poets jim libiran, kooky tuason, joel toledo, frank miranda, and gelo suarez. joel toledo and frank miranda were surprise readers. the surprise being theirs and mine. they were there to watch the show, but vim nadera, the man behind pistang panitik, had me call them to the stage. the two surprise numbers added more quirkiness to an already quirky show, and it was all good.
the show started to get even more amazing during the second set of performances from the poets when the tribu guys rapped freestyle. because the crowd's energy was aready electric, gelo suarez was a bit worried that he wouldn't match the tribu performance, but he needn't have worried. he floored the audience with his funny poem that dealt with body parts and things you can do to them. And kooky tuason closed the segment beautifully with her spoken word performance.
after the four-hour show, i passed by meeting rooms 5 and 6 where abdon balde's novel and khavn dela cruz's (he was part of the pistang panitik show last friday) poetry book were to be launched by the u.s.t. publishing house. at the foyer i saw bishop teodoro bacani and tony perez among the people waiting to get in. i didn't stay, though, because i had to look for our dean, virgilio almario at the adarna booth. on my way to look for him, i bumped into mookie katigbak who congratulated me on my palanca win. i congratulated her back. she made me beso, and i'm sure if i weren't gay, that would've made my already happy day even so much happier. haha. mookie told me she was on her way to another meeting room where she was sitting in a panel with sarge lacuesta.
i decided to tarry a little before riding the down escalator and watch the milling crowd at the smx's lobby. i saw luis katigbak, and he smiled hello. he was on his way to yvette tan's table at the lobby cafe. i decided to go down and say hello to them, but because it takes forever to reach the lobby given the extra long escalator, they had already gone by the time i reached the cafe.
so i proceeded to look for rio alma when i bumped into jun balde again (he watched part of the pistang panitik show earlier), and i told him i had to save up first to buy his novel because it costs almost 700 pesos. he laughed and punched me on the shoulder lightly. he rode the up escalator, and i made my way to the exhibition area. there i managed to find rio alma near the u.p. press booth. after our quick talk, i showed him the way to meeting rooms 5 and 6, and i joined the rest of the icw secretariat to prepare to leave for u.p.
on our way out of s.m.x., we saw tingting and maikee (is this how she spells it?) cojuanco walking in surrounded by bodyguards. after a few paces we also saw ligaya rubin.
today's pistang panitik session was happy. i hope tomorrow's session with bloggers will be even better.
it was all about pop lit today at pistang panitik. i emceed the event, and i was amazed by the talent of the featured artists. today's session at stage area 1 featured storytellers from alitaptap storytellers philippines (madz, ethel, and franky), puppeteers from teatrong mulat with their founder amelia lapena-bonifacio, violinist jonathan livioco of the u.p. college of music, poets/rappers from tribu (young scent, lil coli, raynoa, and o.g sacred who are featured in the jim libiran film, tribu), and poets jim libiran, kooky tuason, joel toledo, frank miranda, and gelo suarez. joel toledo and frank miranda were surprise readers. the surprise being theirs and mine. they were there to watch the show, but vim nadera, the man behind pistang panitik, had me call them to the stage. the two surprise numbers added more quirkiness to an already quirky show, and it was all good.
the show started to get even more amazing during the second set of performances from the poets when the tribu guys rapped freestyle. because the crowd's energy was aready electric, gelo suarez was a bit worried that he wouldn't match the tribu performance, but he needn't have worried. he floored the audience with his funny poem that dealt with body parts and things you can do to them. And kooky tuason closed the segment beautifully with her spoken word performance.
after the four-hour show, i passed by meeting rooms 5 and 6 where abdon balde's novel and khavn dela cruz's (he was part of the pistang panitik show last friday) poetry book were to be launched by the u.s.t. publishing house. at the foyer i saw bishop teodoro bacani and tony perez among the people waiting to get in. i didn't stay, though, because i had to look for our dean, virgilio almario at the adarna booth. on my way to look for him, i bumped into mookie katigbak who congratulated me on my palanca win. i congratulated her back. she made me beso, and i'm sure if i weren't gay, that would've made my already happy day even so much happier. haha. mookie told me she was on her way to another meeting room where she was sitting in a panel with sarge lacuesta.
i decided to tarry a little before riding the down escalator and watch the milling crowd at the smx's lobby. i saw luis katigbak, and he smiled hello. he was on his way to yvette tan's table at the lobby cafe. i decided to go down and say hello to them, but because it takes forever to reach the lobby given the extra long escalator, they had already gone by the time i reached the cafe.
so i proceeded to look for rio alma when i bumped into jun balde again (he watched part of the pistang panitik show earlier), and i told him i had to save up first to buy his novel because it costs almost 700 pesos. he laughed and punched me on the shoulder lightly. he rode the up escalator, and i made my way to the exhibition area. there i managed to find rio alma near the u.p. press booth. after our quick talk, i showed him the way to meeting rooms 5 and 6, and i joined the rest of the icw secretariat to prepare to leave for u.p.
on our way out of s.m.x., we saw tingting and maikee (is this how she spells it?) cojuanco walking in surrounded by bodyguards. after a few paces we also saw ligaya rubin.
today's pistang panitik session was happy. i hope tomorrow's session with bloggers will be even better.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Pistang Panitik
PISTANG PANITIK 3 AT THE 29th MANILA INTERNATIONAL BOOK FAIR IN MOA
The third Pistang Panitik will be held during the 29 th Manila International Book Fair at the SMX Mall of Asia . This year's format should prove to be quite unique. On September 12 , 14, 15 and 16, writers/artists/performers will have morning and afternoon sessions dedicated to them, wherein their works will be discussed and presented. Critical discussions, storytelling sessions and poetry readings will add spark to this literal literary fiesta.
The premiere writing institution in the country, the UP Institute of Creative Writing counts the College of Arts & Letters of the University of the Philippines-Diliman , the National Commission for Culture and the Arts , and Primetrade Asia as its partners for the week-long event. Fresh from the success of the Gawad Likhaan: the UP Centennial Literary Awards, the UP ICW initiated Pistang Panitik in 2006 with the help of Anvil Publishing House, National Book Development Board, and Book Development Association of the Philippines.
Pistang Panitik is a brainchild of former ICW Director Prof. Vim Nadera who said that Pista is a way of sharing the beauty of the written art with the public by celebrating our own literature.
On September 12, 2008, 2:00-3:30 p.m. at the Meeting Room 6, Writers' Cafe will host Charlson Ong , Ophelia Dimalanta, Benilda Santos, Dinah Roma-Sianturi, Jaime An Lim, writing greats who will talk about their craft over a cup of coffee. On that same day, 4:00-5:30, writers speak on writing and joining writers' groups in Writers are not Loners with Beverly Siy of Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika at Anyo (LIRA), UP Writers Club, The Varsitarian (UST), Heights ( Ateneo de Manila ) and Malate ( De La Salle University ). At 7:00 p.m on Stage Area 1, Literature will be performed the alternative way by Ony Carcamo, Lourd de Veyra, Khavn de la Cruz , Charms Tiamzon , Girl Valencia and Cynthia Alexander.
In Ganito Kami Ngayon , renowned writers (the new ICW director) Jose Dalisay, Roland Tolentino, Romulo Baquiran, Jr., Jose Neil Garcia, Nicolas Pichay and Jun Lana will update literature lovers on current literary practice in the Philippines on September 14 , 10:00am-12:00nn. Pop Lit on September 15 , 10:00am-2:00 p.m. at the Stage Area 1 will have comic book artists , performance poets, storytellers, independent film directors and literary innovators like Romancing Venus, Teatrong Mulat, Angelo Suarez , and Jim Libiran with TRIBU rappers Raynoa Aguillon, Billy Cruz, Lloyd Labastida, and Shielbert Manuel will present emerging forms in Philippine literature.
And for the finale, the business of blogging will be discussed on September 16 , 10:30am-12:30 pm, at the Stage Area 1. The activity called Blog! will be handled by Dean Alfa , Marne Kilates, Bobby Añonuevo, Sonny Villafania, Dino Manrique, and Vlad Gonzales.
For more details, contact the UP ICW at 922-1830 and visit panitikan.com.ph.
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